Recently smashed my finger and lost the nail and it got me wondering what is the biological / mechanical / etc function / reason for fingernails? Sure it would be harder to grip little things, but is there a structural reason why our digits need these things?
EDIT: Follow up question. What is different about the skin underneath your nail that makes it so painful when initially exposed to air?
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Partly to remove parasites. It’s much easier to grip a tick or flea with nails, and removing ticks and fleas from others was likely a large part of prehuman ancestor’s social groups, something that drove human intelligence development.
We also evolved from things with claws for digging and climbing like our distant juramaia ancestors, and while our ‘claws’ have become less impressive they remain useful.
Our thin, flat rather then curved nails support nimble uses of our fingertips, something other people have explained well. Humans are specialized tool builders, and nails help us build tools.
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