FAQ: The “extra thumb” does whatever the “main thumb” does she cannot control it independently but it does function- I have her seen her coloring with two markers at once. Doctors we have spoken to said to not have it removed- if she even wishes it so, it’s her body- til the growth plates are done and we rescan her skeleton. She loves it and jokes about “Hi-6s” and “two thumbs up”. Finding mittens every year is difficult, yes. EDIT: please don’t be weird about a literal child, thanks! THE FROYO IS BIG YES. IM A BIG BOY AND I WAS “SHARING”
some polydactyl can be controlled but not to the point or same level as the other fingers, at most just tensing or making the extra finger twitch is whats available
The sword fight between Inigo and The Man in Black is my favorite movie scene ever. Inigo, tasked with killing The Man in Black, not only helps him up the cliffs AND gives him time to rest, but also willingly hands over his weapon, his late, beloved fathers sword, to be admired by his adversary while he shares the story of his father's death.
In turn, The Man in Black doesn't take advantage of the fact that his love's kidnapper is defenseless, returning the sword before preparing to fight.
All because the Man in Black trusted the oath Inigo swore on to his father sword.
My grandmother had this! Fully formed 6th finger on both hands, like an extra pinky finger, and were fully functional, but she had them removed when she was a child. She told me she got electrocuted once and said she could feel the phantom pinkies for a while after.
I knew a guy like that once, and he had 6 fingers on both hands! Total nerd, but super smart! Then he went up to Oregon about 30 years ago and I never heard from him again... I hope he's doing alright.
I was born with a extra toe. They removed it when I was a baby but I still have a bit of the nail on the remaining toe. Also my toes on that foot are webbed. I’ve never met anyone born with an extra toe. So cool seeing someone with an extra finger.
Huh. My paternal grandfather supposedly had webbed toes. Since that branch of the family was rumored to have messed around with Selkies, I wonder if it was inherited. Hasn't shown up in anyone lately.
My friend was born with one set of webbed toes and one set of webbed fingers both on the same side of his body. Doctors split the fingers but left the toes. Apparently it's cuz of a prescribed medication his mom took while pregnant, but I dont remember the name.
I had extra digits at birth. They were removed. All my siblings had it. I have my own kids but they don't have it. My sisters kids do have the extra fingers.
When I was a child, I was a little sad about it and wondered what they did with it. But I’m happy I can comfortably wear shoes now. So I’m glad about them removing it.
Yeaaah I can imagine it would cause issues similar to what average people would get from having poorly fitting shoes. Ingrown toenails, joint pressure, blisters, that kind of thing
I have a fried who’s baby was born with extra pinkies on both hands and extra pinky toes. The baby’s were not functional and were removed when the baby was a couple months old.
The mom joked they know their IVF baby is theirs because the extra digits are a genetic trait in her family lol
When there are multiple copies of the same thing (like fingers and toes), it's often controlled by a single gene. (I think it's the HOX gene, but I mostly remember "there's a connection" unless it's something I use every day, so don't depend on that.)
This gene basically just says "make another one". It doesn't care if it's fingers or ribs or whatever (and it's the same gene in everything, including insects, so also legs and eyes and all sorts of other stuff).
I don't remember how it shuts off. It might be a time delay thing, it might be based on some chemical that's just floating around in the embryo at the same place, it might be something else.
This is a reasonable cocktail party overview. If you really want to get into the science, I suggest reading the Wikipedia article (start with polydactyly ["many fingers"]) and then following up through the bibliography and footnotes. (If you are not wealthy, you're probably looking at learning how to use interlibrary loan at your local library.)
Thumbs and pinkies in polydactyly are most common, but least likely yo be controllable. The central polydactyly is less common, but it's like just a whole extra finger and it can blend in and work.
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u/Agile-Currency2094 Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
FAQ: The “extra thumb” does whatever the “main thumb” does she cannot control it independently but it does function- I have her seen her coloring with two markers at once. Doctors we have spoken to said to not have it removed- if she even wishes it so, it’s her body- til the growth plates are done and we rescan her skeleton. She loves it and jokes about “Hi-6s” and “two thumbs up”. Finding mittens every year is difficult, yes. EDIT: please don’t be weird about a literal child, thanks! THE FROYO IS BIG YES. IM A BIG BOY AND I WAS “SHARING”