POLYDACTLY MARVELS

The trait of polydactyl (also known as supernumerary fingers) is an inherited trait and these occurrences have been carefully documented for centuries. Some extreme cases include: an instance of 13 fingers on each hand and 12 toes on each foot, an infant at the Htel-Dieu in Paris in 1687 which had 40 digits, ten on each member, a woman who had six fingers and two thumbs on each hand, and another who had eight toes on one foot.

The Foldi family (pictured above) was first written of in the 1896 publication Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. The family of Foldi, part of the Hyabites tribe living in Arabia, confine their marriages to their tribe and they all have 24 digits.

The inhabitants of the village of Eycaux in France, at the end of the last century, had nearly all supernumerary digits either on thier hands or feet. Being isolated in an inaccessible and mountainous region, they had intermarried for many years and perpetuated the anomaly.

It is surprising that the trait of extra digits is not all that uncommon. In fact, it is estimated that about one in three thousand Europeans are born with an extra finger or toe. The trait is even more common in Africa, with about one in three hundred displaying the trait. The French mathematician Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1968-1758) wrote about a doctor he knew named Jacob Ruhe who not only had six fingers and toes – but so did his most of his family including his grandmother, three siblings and two of his children. The Russian Geneticist E.O. Manoiloff published a paper in 1931 on one Viaceslav Michailovic de Camio Scipion who was able to document his multi-digit lineage back over six centuries.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

RELATED ATTRACTIONS

Anonymous on May 20th, 2007 at 8:52 am

la famiglia foldi e’ l’ esempio di come la natura possa essere fantasiosa,avere la polidactia con dita ben formate e’ bellissimo!!!!
Tom on August 24th, 2007 at 6:17 am

There’s a relief pitcher in the MLB that has six fingers on each hand. Antonio Alfonseca, of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Anonymous on August 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 am

My grandpa claims he was born with an extra toe on each foot, but they were removed. He claims he has scars too prove it, but I don’t want to see!
Alpheus P. Winterborne on October 30th, 2008 at 1:21 am

How good would this guy be at playing the guitar? This guy would absolutely shred!
beatlemia on March 15th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

I was born with 12 fingers and so were both of my children (my daughter had 12 toes as well). Since this “quirk”- let’s be honest, it’s quite a conversation starter (and stopper!)- is clearly both hereditary and dominant, I’ve always been curious about why no one else in my immediate or extended family displays it. Turns out to be the key in a family secret and may lead me to information about biological relatives I never knew I had! Fascinating genetic stuff- thanks for this sight as it manages to be both informative and respectful- no easy task considering the subject matter!
beatlemia on March 15th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

I meant site. Sorry. I could really use those extra fingers when I type!
nicola on April 30th, 2010 at 1:38 am

my little sister was born with 12 fingers, 6 on each hand, also 11 toes, she had them removed when she was 18 monthes old nobody in the family had ever heard of anything called Polydactly