If thumbs r important in human evolution, why is it (1st digit) the default program?
Without Sonic Hedgehog protein, limb buds develop into the first digit (the thumb). So hedgehog evolved so that we could have the other fingers. So before hedgehog, we were all thumbs. So why is it that the opposable thumb is said to have evolved? Why is it so important in human evolution if it is the default program?
It’s not just the thumb (the inside digit) that is important in primate evolution … it’s the *opposability* of the thumb. And this may have little to do with the order in which the digits arrive … either in evolution, or in embryonic development.
According to my second source below, Ronin is almost exactly correct … the first finger to develop in the embryo is (slightly surprisingly) the ring finger, followed by the pinkie, then the middle finger, index finger, and lastly the thumb. But, again, I don’t think the order of embryological development is relevant to which one developed opposability.
While we’re talking about digit development: consider the inside digit on the human foot. You will notice that your big toe has curious (structurally similar, but functionally useless) similarities to your thumb … such as the fact that it has only two bones instead of three like the other digits, or the extra muscles and nerves assigned to it (which is why you can wiggle and curl your big toe independently of the others, which are themselves much harder to wiggle or curl independently or each other). The big toe even has a muscle in the calf (the Plantaris muscle) that is attached to it, but useless.
Hmmm … This is all the vestigial machinery (structurally present, but functionally useless) from some ancestor that required grasping with the feet (an opposable thumb on all four limbs). Hmmmm, I say. 
Human Evolution
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