An unsung appendage in the female body, which has long been considered useless, may actually be essential for ovary development and fertility, a new mouse study finds.
This structure, called the rete ovarii, was first discovered in humans over a century ago, but until now, it was considered a so-called vestigial structure — not crucial in adult female anatomy, but a leftover from fetal development. Vestigial anatomical structures, or "vestiges," are generally thought to have once had a crucial function that was later lost in the course of human evolution.
