Scientists try to discover why people pick their nose and eat it
dailyrecord.co.ukScientists are one step closer to figuring out why people like to pick their nose and eat it. While considered a disgusting habit by humans, researchers have discovered that one primate has fingers specially evolved to do the job.
In a first, an aye-aye lemur has been recorded shoving its especially long digits into the nostrils then licking its fingers clean.With this research, the aye-aye is the thirteenth primate species, including humans, to be documented for picking their nose and eating the mucus.
So far, there is no proven explanation as to why it is done. Scientific studies have shown picking the nose can lead to staph infections in humans, while others have suggested those who eat snot have fewer dental cavities.
The findings, published in the Journal of Zoology, could help scientists shed some light the possible functional role of nose picking across all these species, reports Wales Online.
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