# extra limbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522 "2000-01-25T00:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tubring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tubring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubring)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/1 "2000-01-25T00:25:00Z")
sometimes a person/animal (like a frog) can be born with extra limbs…what are these limbs called…i used to know the word, but i cant find it now for the life of me. thanks * * * …kevin ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/2 "2000-01-25T01:13:00Z")
Supernumerary ? [http://www.hartwick.edu/biology/def\_frogs/trem/paper.html](http://www.hartwick.edu/biology/def_frogs/trem/paper.html) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/3 "2000-01-25T01:24:00Z")
The word is _Vestigial_, as in Main Entry: ves·tige Pronunciation: 'ves-tij Function: noun Etymology: French, from Latin vestigium footstep, footprint, track, vestige Date: 1602 1 a (1) : a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost (2) : the smallest quantity or trace b : FOOTPRINT 1 \*\*2 : a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms synonym see TRACE - ves·ti·gial\*\* /ve-'sti-jE-&l, -j&l/ adjective Eh? Answer your questuion? Or am I dumb? I can accept either response 😉 * * * “And on the eighth day, God Created beer to prevent the Irish from taking over the Earth.” _~SNOOGANS~_ ---
**Author:** ![tubring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tubring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubring)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/4 "2000-01-25T01:30:00Z")
well, i was thinking it was vestigial, as in a vestigial tail, but i thought there was another word…eh…perhaps i’m dumb, and im looking for a word that doesn’t exsist. thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/5 "2000-01-25T01:37:00Z")
Maybe you were thinking polydactyl - extra toes or fingers? ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/6 "2000-01-25T01:42:00Z")
Vestigial is not correct - read the definition closely: > [@](#): > > comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a > past generation, or in closely related forms For example, snakes have vestigial hip-bones because their ancestors (lizards) had legs. Now if you were born with a tail, that might be vestigial - because you sort of have a tail as an embryo (and of course our tail bone is vestigial). I don’t know what the word is that you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/7 "2000-01-25T01:45:00Z")
While I’m not sure of the exact medical term, I believe that the word “cool” is a pretty accurate term for what you described. (I’d love to have another hand. Even if it wasn’t really very functional. Just to be able to say “I’ve only got 3 hands here,” or, “On the one hand…on the other hand…on the other other hand” would be pretty cool.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/8 "2000-01-25T01:51:00Z")
## Maybe the word you’re looking for is _anomolous_? jus’ tryin’ to help. “And on the eighth day, God Created beer to prevent the Irish from taking over the Earth.” _~SNOOGANS~_ ---
**Author:** ![Linney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58956e/32.png) [@Linney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linney)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/9 "2000-01-25T03:55:00Z")
I personally would be led to believe that there’s not one specific term for an extra limb… I think it would vary from which limb has the extrea. I’m sure it would have the prefix ‘poly’ in there though. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/10 "2000-01-25T04:14:00Z")
superfluous? * * * Judges 14:9 - So [Samson] scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion. ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/11 "2000-01-25T05:51:00Z")
I am fairly certain the word is “supernumerary”, as **funneefarmer** pointed out at the beginning of the thread. ## “Vestigial” is incorrect when describing excess body parts. You could say that the human appendix is a vestigial organ though. Abe IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. –Ambrose Bierce ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/12 "2000-01-25T10:14:00Z")
Supernumerary… From Merrriam Webster "su_per_nu_mer_ary [1] (adjective) [Late Latin supernumerarius, from Latin super- + numerus number] First appeared 1605 1 a : exceeding the usual, stated, or prescribed number \ b : not enumerated among the regular components of a group and esp. of a military organization 2 : exceeding what is necessary, required, or desired 3 : more numerous" ---
**Author:** ![tubring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tubring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubring)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/13 "2000-01-25T15:42:00Z")
supernumerary is correct in describing the condition but it’s more likely to referring to the person/animal as a whole. you wouldn’t say “this is my supernumerary limb.” after asking many intelligent people, and even bringing it up to the teeming millions that post on here (who i consider to be smarter than the average bear)i now think I’m looking for a word that doesn’t exist. so feel free to create one. thanks. * * * …kevin ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/14 "2000-01-26T06:36:00Z")
From the site I linked in my first reply entitled “Explanation for Naturally Occurring Supernumerary Limbs in Amphibians” “We hypothesize that these limb abnormalities result from localized regulatory responses of developing and regenerating limb tissues to mechanical disruption caused by the trematode cysts. We have tested this idea by implanting inert resin beads into developing limb buds of frogs and salamanders. Since this treatment can cause supernumerary limb structures, our hypothesis is sufficient to explain the naturally occurring extra limbs” It sounds like the scientific literature is using it in this sense even if the dictionary isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![beefymeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@beefymeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beefymeg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/15 "2000-01-25T19:39:00Z")
Kevin! Hi! Adam is staring at his garbage can, but otherwise he would say hi. What happened to “parasitic?” * * * Sucks to your assmar. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/16 "2000-01-25T19:47:00Z")
What about that little bone tail at the bottom of our spine? A primitive tail perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![TheUnforgiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TheUnforgiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheUnforgiven)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-limbs/6522/17 "2000-01-25T22:07:00Z")
What, the coccyx? What about it? It’s vestigial, I guess.