Why do we have nails?

gah ingrown toenails they give you so much pain and agony

nails exist to use to scratch

To pick stuff up with.

My pointer finger nail was ripped off & I tried to pick up a quarter off of a table and I couldn't do it. It was frustrating. :mad2:

Evolution *Pfft*.

Fingernails are there because it protects the skin, to scratch yourself and etc etc we've heard all that.

Toenails are there because we can stub our toes. Toenails act as somesort of guard from that.

Nails are funny. But useful when I feel itchy or want to scratch my boyfriend xD

They're actually sex tools.

Finger nails rate up there with pubic hair.

Nails are there to give support to our extremeties (fingers and toes) while walking and picking stuff up (with your hands and feet respectively...). They also help to stop you from breaking the very top of your fingers and toes (although they havn't helped me recently...)

According to my sister, to scratch me with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SomethingBig

They're actually sex tools.

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Im going to be awake all night trying to figure that one out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Destai

Im going to be awake all night trying to figure that one out.

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I wouldn't experiment on that theory all night if I were you...could get messy & cut your family tree to a stump.



On the Q, Google is you friend

Quote:

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Originally Posted by google Answers

"Why do we have fingernails?"

"Our fingernails are similar to claws or hooves found in other
animals. More generally called “digital appendages”, they are enlarged
keratinized structures (the same stuff that horns are made out of)
that protect the tips of the fingers and toes in most vertebrate
species, or aminals with backbones. Fingernails are broad, and
slightly curved, and mostly cover the top surface of our fingers.

In other species, this structure is slightly different - for example,
crocodiles have a thimble-shaped structure that covers the whole tip
of their digits, whereas hawks and owls have talons, highly recurved
claws specialized for prey capture, and horses and cows have hooves
that protect their feet.

So, the reason we have fingernails is simply that everyone in our
family tree has some sort of digital appendage that probably served to
protect fingertips in our distant ancestors, and each group has
evolved modifications that best fit their needs for a particular
environment. Fingernails in monkeys, apes and humans always cover only
one side of the fingertip and thus they protect but don’t limit the
motion or sensitivity of our fingertips."

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Opening soda cans, picking up coins, and clawing out eyes are just three of the many and varied uses for nails!

Toenails remain unfathomable. I fail to see what possible protection they could hope to offer. Indeed, if you hit your toe hard enough for it to need protecting, you'll probably end up driving the nail up into your toe or shattering it or something. Grisly.

weapons out of anything, weapons out of nails! i cut mine's and make them look like kitty claws :D .

I use them for scratchin'.

I believe nails help against infection, much like hair in the nostril they trap dust and the like we pick up from touching stuff rather than it being deposited on our fingers. They are also generally useful for gaining access to food, in our case the best thing I can think of would be Bananas, our nearest cousin's favourite snacktime treat. I really don't buy the whole used in combat thing. They're flimsy, blunt and cause only superficial damage.

I use mine for... NOTHING!