# Why do humans have fingernails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011 "2003-10-01T22:58:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/1 "2003-10-01T22:58:59Z")
I get questions like this from my kids all the time. Sometimes I can answer them, sometimes I can’t. So, any ideas on why humans have fingernails? My guess is for grasping things better, or they could be a remnant of a distant evolutionary cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/2 "2003-10-02T00:04:17Z")
Ever trim your nails too short and try to open a soda can? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/3 "2003-10-02T00:18:42Z")
Have you not noticed that all mammals have “nails” of some sort? You know, claws, that sort of thing. There’s no real evolutionary pressure to get rid of them, so they stick around. Plus, they do have the occasional use, like peeling oranges or opening CDs. ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/4 "2003-10-02T01:05:39Z")
Opening sunflower seeds. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/5 "2003-10-02T01:27:08Z")
I can open sunflower seeds with my tongue. 😛 (OK, I crack them with my teeth first.) And fingernails are for scratching. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/6 "2003-10-02T01:38:20Z")
picking up dimes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/7 "2003-10-02T01:41:46Z")
They seem to serve some purpose in primates, because all primates (lemurs, monkeys, apes) have them. We’re primates, so we have them, too. Maybe they helped our primate ancestors in grooming-- that’s a big part of social primates’ behavior repertoire. And the vast majority of primate species are social. ---
**Author:** ![Z\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/41988e/32.png) [@Z\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z_Al)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/8 "2003-10-02T02:15:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Strainger \* > \*\*Ever trim your nails too short and try to open a soda can? \*\* Yeah, I think this is one of the benefits of fingernails, is that they protect the finger tips. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/9 "2003-10-02T02:50:32Z")
If humans have **fin** gers, why don’t fish have **hand** gers? ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/10 "2003-10-02T04:27:06Z")
I once had a fingernail pulled out with pliers (under local anaesthetic, but still bloody and unpleasant - not recommended). Believe me, you can’t do much with a finger without a nail - it can’t grip or push down. Writing with a pencil, holding anything by the finger tips, hitting a keyboard - all next to impossible until the nail grows back. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/11 "2003-10-02T04:34:36Z")
Why do humans have fingernails? They’re to nibble on during periods of extreme stress. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/12 "2003-10-02T05:02:25Z")
Fingernails are useful in a variety of ways (as I’m sure you know) like scratching, pulling out splinters, picking up dimes 🙂 , prying open food, grip, holding onto something very small, pulling out hair, scraping off dead skin like scabs or picking your nose or cleaning your ears, and do offer some protection to the back of the fingers. They’re also good for fixing ingrown toenails! ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/13 "2003-10-02T05:13:07Z")
And those mutants way back when that were born without much of claws or fingernails couldn’t peel fruit or dig up food and starved maybe, or couldn’t groom their friends/mates and were ignored and not mated with, couldn’t scratch their own butts and killed themselves going crazy with itching… Evolution at work. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/14 "2003-10-02T10:40:08Z")
I always thought their main purpose was to stop your fingertips flapping about. Which would be gross and not very controllable. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/15 "2003-10-02T11:10:42Z")
Try picking your nose without fingernails. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/16 "2003-10-02T11:59:36Z")
They call 'em fingers, but I never seem 'em fing. Oh. There they go. ---
**Author:** ![Dragline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@Dragline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragline)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/17 "2003-10-02T12:36:48Z")
Boogers. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/18 "2003-10-02T13:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hemlock \* > \*\*I once had a fingernail pulled out with pliers (under local anaesthetic, but still bloody and unpleasant - not recommended). > > Believe me, you can’t do much with a finger without a nail - it can’t grip or push down. Writing with a pencil, holding anything by the finger tips, hitting a keyboard - all next to impossible until the nail grows back. \*\* **Hemlock’s** answer is in line with what I vaugely remember from physical anthropology in undergrad; fingernails evolved to increase tactile sensation and make it easier to digitally manipulate objects by evening out the pressure on the opposite side of the finger pad. I’ll try and dig up a proper cite when I get the chance later in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/19 "2003-10-02T13:57:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*If humans have **fin** gers, why don’t fish have **hand** gers? \*\* Boooooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011/20 "2003-10-02T15:34:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*Boooooo!!! \*\* Guess what finger I’m typing with! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-have-fingernails/205011.md?page=2)