# Polydactylism **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687 "2022-12-17T02:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687/21 "2022-12-18T21:33:52Z")
The cover of _Guitar Player_ magazine once showed a picture of bluesman Hound Dog Taylor’s hand. He had an extra finger. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687/22 "2022-12-18T21:43:22Z")
> [@Deflagration](#): > > Most of us (quintdactyal(?) folkes) **can’t** move our little finger without it also moving our ring finger. Is this universal. No. I can touch the tip of my little finger to my palm while keeping my ring finger straight. I can also extend my ring finger like I don’t quite know how to flip someone off. Can extend both little fingers to the side as well. I have joint hypermobility. I’m nearly 56, and can’t do some of the things I used to be able to do, like put my feet behind my head, which I could do well into my 30s. I can still lay my palms flat on the ground with my feet together without bending my knees, though. Actually, I can lay flat palms on the ground behind my feet. Not sure if that answers the question. ---
**Author:** ![Deflagration](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ab097/32.png) [@Deflagration](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deflagration)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687/23 "2022-12-23T02:09:33Z")
Thank you every one for your replies. The a question still remains. Does the neural pathways still exist in the reverse direction. Can a residual, or actual (finger/toe) still feel? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687/24 "2022-12-23T02:18:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Like the Vulcan thing but between the little & ring fingers? This seems trivially easy to do. 🤔 Agreed, that is trivially easy, and i don’t wiggle the ring finger even a little doing that. I can move the little finger forward without wiggling the ring finger, but only by bracing the ring finger against the middle finger. Because yes, the movement of the little finger tugs on the ring finger. Anyway, i think there are two questions: - Are the fingers mechanically linked, such that pulling on one tends to wiggle the other? - So the nerves controlling them act independently, such that you can initiate motion independently in both? The latter seems more related to the issues of polydactyl hands, which might have skewed the answers. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687/25 "2022-12-23T19:42:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Anyway, i think there are two questions: > > - Are the fingers mechanically linked, such that pulling on one tends to wiggle the other? > - So the nerves controlling them act independently, such that you can initiate motion independently in both? I can spread out my fingers so that my ring finger is not braced against my middle finger, and still move my little finger independently. I can bend it back about an inch, I can curl it down, and I can bend it forward to touch my palm. When I bring it all the way to my palm, my ring finger does get pulled forward slightly-- maybe 1/4", but I think that’s “mechanical”; the web of skin between the fingers pulls it forward just a little. On my left hand, if I make a concentrated effort to keep my ring finger straight, I can, but it hurts just a little at that webbing. Can’t do it on the right side. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polydactylism/976687.md?page=1)