Vestigial Organ

by Greg Crowther

A vestigial characteristic is a useless remnant (or vestige) of a trait found in one's evolutionary predecessors. This song lists a few examples. The opening and closing lines of the song were inspired by the commonly quoted myth that ordinary humans only use about ten percent of our brain capacity.

Thomas Hunt Morgan was a brilliant geneticist awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology for his work on the sex-linked traits of fruit flies.

Is your brain a vestigial organ,
Unlike that of Thomas Hunt Morgan?
Is your brain a vestigial organ now?

Why's my body all covered with hair?
You can shave it off, and I won't care.
I can stay warm even when it's not there.

We all get saddled with our ancestors' traits;
Most remain important, but some degenerate....

Why do we have an appendix?
It's just an intestinal dead end; it's
Quite useless, that vermiform appendix, now.

What good are those teeth that come in late?
The mouth is full with the other 28?
Isn't it dumb for us to have wisdom teeth?

"Survival of the fittest" was Darwin's point of view,
But evolution is not perfect, and neither are you....

What is a uvula for?
I've thought and I've thought, but I'm still not sure.
What is a uvula for, anyway?

Is your brain a vestigial organ?
One billion neurons, and they're all snorin'.
Is your brain a vestigial organ now? (One more time!)

Is your brain a vestigial organ?
You're a few keys short of an organ.
Is your brain a vestigial organ now?

• sheet music (with melody play-back)