Actress Megan Fox has stubby thumbs: brachydactyly-type D, a hereditary cosmetic defect!

• Megan Hands – a tribute to her hands & fingernails! • Megan Fox thumbs: the story of her stubby thumb! How the ‘Megan Fox thumb’ story began in the summer of 2009… In the summer of 2009 Megan Fox’s right thumb became a hot news item in ‘gossip land’ after new photos revealed that the beauty – who was voted in 2008 by FHM as the “sexiest woman in the world“ – has a rather remarkable ‘minor physical anomaly’ (MPA): a stubby thumb – featured with a broad, short fingernail in both hands (see the pictures below). But the Megan Fox thumb-story became world news after a Daily mail reporter had noticed that when Megan Fox appeared on february 7, 2010 in a Motorola commercial during the Super Bowl event … her hands were replaced by a ‘hand double’ with much longer fingernails: see the pictures below! Megan Fox’s right thumb (left) + an impression from the Motorola Super Bowl commercial (right), featured with the youtube version of the full commercial (below): – MORE FAMOUS HANDS & FINGERNAILS –

Having your thumb in the form of a club, which is called brachydactyly – type D (BDD), which is a minor affliction that can be found in 1 out of every 1,000 people. Local hand surgeons know everything about it there is to know. Dr. Steven Bendner, the leading hand surgery expert at Beth Israel Medical Center, explains that the case of the thumb that looks a bit flattened and therefore shorter, is often a peculiarity that comes down in the family: “The nail of the thumb in this condition is often very short and wide. It is usually hereditary, although it could also have been caused by frostbite, or it could have been an injury to the growth plate in childhood. While one is young, the thumb often looks more or less ordinary, but with the passing of time its shortened condition begins to stand out more and more.” So, contrary to ‘fingernail clubbing‘, a clubbed thumb is usually nothing to worry about! Dr. Richard Kim, director of congenital hand surgery at Hackensack Medical Center, warns us not to play down the importance of the thumb.: “You need it to be able to touch the other fingers and it is important for pinching. In Megan Fox’s case, it appears that only the last bone of the thumb is affected and that it does not involve the joint. For her, it looks like it’s just a cosmetic deficit.” A few more impressions of Megan Fox’s thumbs & fingernails: A final but not unimportant notification… Knowing about Megan Fox’s little imperfection will help other people to realize that – when not overplayed by the owner – any small cosmetic defect might only add to the charms of the person! SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • An ‘Ode to the thumb’ – by French sculptor César Baldaccini! • Fingernail clubbing might signal various medical problems! • Scientific article: ‘Congenital thumb deformities’ • Scientific article: ‘Abnormal thumbs and physical diagnosis’ • Megan Fox has clubbed thumbs!

Five differences between the primate hand and the human hand!

Primates have ‘human-like’ short, flat fingernails! Did you know that far most primates have ‘human-like’ short, flat fingernails? Except for marmosets and tamarins, all primates have flat fingernails and toenails instead of claws. What are the major differences between the hands of primate species and the human hand? • 1 – Primates usually have a shorter thumb than humans – the thumb of the macaque (see photo on the left) does not rearch out behond the distal border of the handpalm. • 2 – Primates usually have a lower ‘2D:4D digit ratio’ than humans – the hand of the macaque is featured with a much longer ring finger (digit 4) than the pointer finger (digit 2). • 3 – Primates usually have more fingerprint- and palmar whorls than humans – the hand of the macaque is featured with 5 palmar whorls. • 4 – Primates always have a lower ‘ridge density’ than humans. • 5 – Primates usually have (various) palmar transversal hand creases, a.k.a. ‘simian lines’ – the hand of the macaque has one ‘simian line’. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING: • PRIMATE HANDS – Finger length linked with social behavior! • Understanding our past: the human hand vs. the primate hand! • The Monkey Palmist! • Hands in the perspective of evolution! • More interesting stories about the hands of primates! PHOTO: Impression from the hand of a chimpanzee:

Megan Fox has a clubbed thumb, Hrithik Roshan has a double thumb – not a clubbing fingernail!

Megan Fox has clubbed thumb & Hrithik Roshan has a double thumb – not to be confussed with a ‘clubbing fingernail’! Earlier this summer Megan Fox’s right thumb became news after new photos of her indicated that the beauty has a rather misshapen thumb – which by the way had been observed as early as 2007 already. While scientists have described that thumb length has played a major role in the evolution of human kind, what do we really know about this rather remarkable type of thumb abnormality? Having your thumb in the form of a club, which is called brachydactyly – type D (BDD), which is a minor affliction that can be found in 1 out of every 1,000 people. Local hand surgeons know everything about it there is to know. Dr. Steven Bendner, a leading hand surgery expert at Beth Israel Medical Center, explains that the case of the thumb that looks a bit flattened and therefore shorter, is often a peculiarity that comes down in the family: “The nail of the thumb in this condition is often very short and wide. It is usually hereditary, although it could also have been caused by frostbite, or it could have been an injury to the growth plate in childhood. While one is young, the thumb often looks more or less ordinary, but with the passing of time its shortened condition begins to stand out more and more.” So, contrary to ‘fingernail clubbing‘ (a nail disorder which is associated with various medical problems – often related to lungs), a ‘clubbed thumb’ is usually nothing to worry about at all! Dr. Richard Kim, director of congenital hand surgery at Hackensack Medical Center, warns us not to play down the importance of the thumb.: “You need it to be able to touch the other fingers and it is important for pinching. In Megan Fox’s case, it appears that only the last bone of the thumb is affected and that it does not involve the joint. For her, it looks like it’s just a cosmetic deficit.” Hopefully, knowing about Megan Fox’s little imperfection will help other people to realize that – when not overplayed by the owner – a small cosmetic defect might only add to the charms of a person. Now, maybe you would like to hear more about the ‘double thumb’ (in his case a combination of ‘polydactyly‘ & ‘syndactyly‘) of the famous Indian Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan??? SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Fingernail clubbing might signal various medical problems! • An ‘Ode to the thumb’ – by French sculptor César Baldaccini! • Join the brachydactyly type D Facebook club! • Brachydactyly: a club for people with club thumbs