There’s a very interesting reason this evolutionary mutation exists

EVER noticed how some people are born with small holes above their ears? There’s an interesting reason why.

THE unusual condition, which affects 1 per cent of the population, is evolutionary and can be traced back to fish gills.

The proper name for this rare condition is a preauricular sinus — the holes are ‘nodules, dents, or dimples’ that are visible around the external ear where a person’s face meets the ear cartilage.

So why are they there?

Technically they’re a hereditary birth defect, first documented by scientist Van Heusinger back in 1864.

Around half of those affected have holes on just one side while the other half can find them on both.

According to evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin, one theory for the strange holes is that they’re an “evolutionary remnant of fish gills”, reports Business Insider.

If you have a preauricular sinus thankfully it’s nothing to worry about.

The worst case scenario would be for the holes to become infected, which would be relatively easy to deal with using a course of antibiotics.

The number of people with the birth defect in the United States is even less, while in Asia and parts of Africa the figure is between 4 per cent and 10 per cent of the population.

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission