# 10 .... Goosebumps

Humans get goose bumps when they are cold, frightened, angry, or in awe. Many other creatures get goose bumps for the same reason, for example this is why a cat or dog’s hair stands on end and the cause behind a porcupine’s quills raising. In cold situations, the rising hair traps air between the hairs and skin, creating insulation and warmth. In response to fear, goose bumps make an animal appear larger - hopefully scaring away the enemy. Humans no longer benefit from goose bumps and they are simply left over from our past when we were not clothed and needed to scare our own natural enemies. Natural selection removed the thick hair but left behind the mechanism for controlling it.

#9 Jacobson’s Organ

Jacobson’s organ is a fascinating part of animal anatomy and it tells us a lot about our own sexual history. The organ is in the nose and it is a special “smell” organ which detects pheromones (the chemical that triggers sexual desire, alarm, or information about food trails). It is this organ that allows some animals to track others for sex and to know of potential dangers. Humans are born with the Jacobson’s organ, but in early development its abilities dwindle to a point that it is useless. Once upon a time, humans would have used this organ to locate mates when communication was not possible. Single’s evenings, chat rooms, and bars have now taken its place in the process of human mate-seeking.

#8 Junk DNA

While many of the hangovers from our “devolved” past are visible or physical, this is not true for all. Humans have structures in their genetic make-up that were once used to produces enzymes to process vitamin C (it is called L-gulonolactone oxidase). Most other animals have this functioning DNA but at some point in our history, a mutation disbled the gene - whilst leaving behind its remnants as junk DNA. This particular junk DNA indicates a common ancestry with other species on earth, so it is particularly interesting.

Amid fears of new laws on euthanasia and gay marriage, the Vatican’s legal chief said that the rupture was due to growing contrast between Italian civil legislation and ”the irreversible principles of the Church”.

According to the L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily, Monsignor Jose’ Maria Serrano Ruiz, head of the Vatican State Court of Appeal and president of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Vatican Law, said the move was also motivated by the ”exorbitant number” of Italian laws, as well as their ”instability”.

It also however had to do with the growing contrast between Italian civil legislation and ''the irreversible principles of the Church'', Monsignor Serrano Ruiz said. Under the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between Italy and the Vatican, signed by the then Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Vatican Secretary of State, Italian laws are automatically incorporated into the Vatican legal code.