Skip to main content

The Vadoma tribe | Of African origin and with ostrich feet

If you have reached this article, it is because you have surely heard about the Vadoma tribe, an African people famous for having ostrich feet.Like an ostrich? Yes, as you read it, the ostrich feet, like two big claws that come out, instead of the five fingers we are used to. Didn't you know this was possible? Do not worry, we were also surprised at some point, so at Science Daily Online we sat down to find out more about this Vadoma to bring you all the information you need to know about this particular African tribe.

Don't forget to find out of the peculiar history of the Vadoma tribe.

Content Index

The Vadoma: the ostrich feet village

The Vadoma tribe | Of African origin and with ostrich feet

Ectrodactyly is an alteration where the three central toes disappear to give way to two prominent claws.

To begin, we have to locate ourselves geographically. We are in the amazing African continent, where the savanna opens in all directions , the heat reigns and the sun is at its zenith showing us all the curiosities of Africa that extend from north to south, from east to west.A cloud moves in the sky, grazes the Sun, almost, gives us a bit of shade, and in the distance we see a man who takes a complicated walk.Walk a little strange, really, as if he were wearing uncomfortable shoes.

Let's be a little more specific : We are in the Zameze Valley, in the beautiful land of Zimbabwe.In these lands not only the man we see in the distance walks strangely, in fact there is a whole tribe famous for the fact that the members they use to mobilize from one side to the other, that is, their feet, both right and left, have a curious deformity or genetic alteration that has earned them the name of ostrich feet town , although the truth is that they prefer to call themselves the Vadoma, or the Vadoma tribe.

Their feet, the truth, are quite a spectacle.And we do not say it in the pejorative sense, although surely in other times more than one would have been it happened that those men could easily exhibit themselves in a circus, next to the nino-wolf and the bearded woman.But the truth is that we do not bring it up by bad gesture or healthy, but with an absolute surprise, after all not every day you find a man with feet as particular as these, and , although the different sometimes generates rejection, one has to overcome these prejudices and see things in their own nature : with surprise, yes, but also with understanding.

These feet, we said, have a wonderful peculiarity: They have two large deformed fingers, huge, large, very large compared to the fingers of any other people , somewhat more similar to two huge claws than to fingers properly That is why the Vadoma tribe has become famous, although not precisely in the hollywoodense style of the term.Let's see it, anyway, with respect and admiration for those people who manage to make their peculiarities or physical limitations an example of survival yt Ambien de Pride: Let's visit the Vadoma tribe.

1.The history of the Vadoma tribe

The Vadoma tribe | Of African origin and with ostrich feet

The ostrich feet that characterize this tribe were registered, for the first time, in 1770.

Zimbabwe, or in its local translation,« stone house », It is one of those countries of superb beauty where we can find the most incredible and spectacular things.Just remember that it is located right between the Zambeze River, Victoria Falls and the Limpopo River. It is just north of this country and hidden between a mountainous area, where the village of the Vadoma tribe is located, one of the last tribes of our planet. It is an almost inaccessible area and it is very possible that due to this isolation said physical characteristic has been made even more patent.

The vadoma are, the truth be said, a simple people.They eat, like all of us, sleep and, of course, have other kinds of needs, of those that have to see with fluids that, in order not to fall into the eschatological or the erotic, we will not specify here.In any case, differs from us only by its lower limbs, those that we usually hide in shoes or show with colorful tones in the ones , and in which we barely repair.Well, they themselves have them quite different, all due to a physical condition called, not so commonly, ectrodactyly.

The Vadoma are there, in that little town of Zimbabwe, they have their own myths and traditions, their rites and their own way of conceiving and making life, like everyone else.They are there, we were saying, and they have been long, so much so that In the middle of the 18th century the legend of these men with huge and irregular feet was already known in various parts of the world , and the adventurers, as Jules Verne, ventured in the middle of this amazing and strange continent with the in order to find out if the myth of the Vadoma tribe.

2.The Vadoma tribe and ectrodactyly

Ectrodactyly is an alteration where the three central toes disappear to give way, only, to two prominent claws that remind a lot of the feet of an ostrich, and it is so rare that if you write it in word the proofreader will tell you that the term does not exist. It is really an autosomal genetic alteration dominant caused by an alteration , a small change in chromosome number seven, a mutation, as Professor X would say.

This disease is also known as Karsch-Neugebauer syndrome , and can result not only in malformations of the lower limbs, but also of the upper limbs, that is, the hands. While the feet have an appearance similar to that of the ostriches, the hands of people who suffer from this syndrome tend to assume a form very similar to a lobster claws.

But do not believe that this characteristic is exclusive to the Vadoma, at all.In fact, it is much more frequent than you think.Let's say, it is not something that happens to 5% of the population, but neither It is something quite scarce: Ectrodactyly appears worldwide, although it is really strange or, at least, we do not usually see it very often, as it appears in one of every 90,000 people. Therefore, if you had some 180,000 people added on Facebook , surely about two, on average, would suffer from this condition that characterizes the Vadoma tribe.

However, it is important to emphasize that, although ectrodactyly can occur worldwide, in the Vadoma tribe it is extremely common."Why is this, professor?" Well, I'm not a teacher, but let's venture to find out: apparently high The frequency of this syndrome within the Vadoma is due to its isolation and a small coincidence that was generated let you know when .Segun the scientists speculate, this phenomenon should have appeared with a little unusual frequency within the tribe at some point in its history, and then, as men and women were reproducing, and having some the recessive gene and others the dominant gene, little by little it was transmitted in the village, which led to it becoming more frequent and going from being an irregularity to being common among them.

This malformation, mutation or genetic condition is quite common also in the Talaunda Tribe , which is located in Zimbabwe and Bostwana, so many scientists have speculated that this tribe may present some common ancestors with the Vadoma tribe.

3.The Vadoma tribe, a tribe like any other

The Vadoma tribe | Of African origin and with ostrich feet

Despite their feet, they are a tribe like any other.

Well, until here we understand each other.But surely at some point the doubt arose: But, And how do these people live? Well, they live in a fairly regular way.In fact, for a person with ectrodactyly it would be easier to adapt to living in the Vadoma tribe than in the everyday world that you and I know. This because they are perfectly integrated into the tribe, work, have their families and live happily in those lands that generation after generation have always had this physical peculiarity.

In fact, as we told you above, this syndrome dates back to at least the 18th century , when it was documented for the first time in 1770 by Jan Jacob Hartsinck, the director of the Dutch East India Company, but this was only the first time it was documented, which does not mean that it did not exist before.

Don Jan Jacob Hartsinck saw him for the first time after an encounter with a group of African slaves who were to be taken to Dutch Guiana. Times of darkness and serious human rights violations (when he was away still the concept of human rights), in which many doctors saw their time to study genetic problems of this type.Problems that, after all, were not only exclusive to the African people, although diseases such as ectrodactyly were more frequent in this continent.

Returning to the theme of the Vadoma tribe, men with ostrich feet, we must clarify something else in which they stand out, and that is that their feet, those that a foreigner could see with bad eyes, have benefited greatly from something: Vadomas are skilled as the one who climbs a tree the most. It seems that their feet, although aesthetically outside the canon, gave them an advantage within the African savannah, what which makes them one of the most amazing tribes in the world.

Well, so far everything we could tell you about the Vadoma tribe.Do you know any other tribe you want to talk to? Would you like to meet other tribes? Leave your opinion in the comments, we will be looking forward to reading you!

If you liked this article, we also recommend: Hadzaa: the tribe that hunts like sharks, The Yanomami, a very curious tribe and the tribe of women from the plate on the lip.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

They find 13 unique people immune to genetic diseases!

An interesting project has been launched since 2014 to search for people immune to genetic diseases.The project is called Resilience and is advanced by a group of scientists from the Icahn Institute of Genetics and Biology, of United States.Are you interested in knowing more? There are 13 UNICAS people immune to genetic diseases! Resilience is the human genome research project more big and ambitious so far, because it focuses on the genes that carry mutations that, however, do not produce hereditary or Mendelian diseases to those who have them. The thing is not simple: they are called pathologies Mendelian because they are transmitted to the downline according to the Mendel laws , and are caused by a mutation in a single gene.These mutations are variants in the genes, and can alter the function of the protein encoded in the gene, which can mean several things: or the protein is not produces, or does very little, or is unstable, or does not work properly, or increases its ...

5 FASCINATING places you should visit with Google Earth

There is no doubt that technology has changed the way we see the world, and Google Earth is a perfect example of this.This wonderful tool can be downloaded for free and allows you to see the world like never before, zooming in on the world at will. But there is much more that Google Earth can do besides showing you your home (and who has not looked at your home in Google Earth)? So here we want to propose 5 interesting places to visit with Google Earth. 5 FASCINATING places you must visit with Google Earth 1.Krakatoa On 27 August 1883, after several weeks of noise and threats (accompanied by minor eruptions), Krakatoa Island literally exploded in a series of four volcanic eruptions.The explosions were so powerful that they they heard clearly about 3,000 miles away, global weather patterns were interrupted in the next few years, and the shockwave went around the world seven times! Since then, the Island has grown again and is now known as Anak Krakatau (Son of Krakatoa)...

How would the voice of a monkey sound? Science responds and is quite disturbing!

Have you ever wondered how a monkey's voice would sound if it could speak? Perhaps the first sound that would come to mind after this question, if you have been a regular at science fiction movies or movies with Charlton Heston, would be the voice of Roddy McDowall, who in the first movie of the series Planet of the Apes (1968), embodied a chimpance called Cornelius. Or maybe, if you are younger, the voice of Cesar comes to mind.>, played by Andy Serkis in the new versions of this saga of intelligent primates, but neither of them would coincide with the voice of a monkey, the real one if he could speak, as a recent scientific study has proven. How would the voice of a monkey sound? Science responds and is quite disturbing! A study by researchers at Princeton University (United States) and the University of Vienna (Austria), published in the journal Science Advances , has left behind that explanation that claimed that the apes could not speak because did not have the ...

Can children grow their fingertips again?

Let's be clear about something: the regeneration of the lost fingers sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it may be a perfectly real possibility, especially since it was recently discovered that maybe the children can regenerate the tissue of the fingertips.How? We'll tell you! Regenerate the fingertips: is it possible for children? Commonly, there are severe enough fingertip injuries to cause it to completely detach itself from the other fingers.That usually means that it has been lost forever. But a new finding seems to indicate the opposite: in children, the fingertip can grow back.Not always, but it happens, or so Dr.Christopher Allan tells us. The doctor says that a 7-year-old girl lost the tip of her finger playing with his brother's bike and arrived at the emergency room, where Dr.Christopher Allan and his fellow surgeons at UW Medicine had to make a decision: Should they try microsurgical reintegration? Suture the wound to minimize ...

Why is there so much water in the city of Venice?

How many times have you wondered when watching a movie or documentary why in the city of Venice there is so much water ? It would be wonderful to visit it personally, but if you don't have that possibility in Science Daily Online we give you the answer. Venice, origin of the romantic city Venice , also known for the romantic city of Gondolas, was built in 421 on a total of 118 islands that were separated by canals, in the middle of a large and large lagoon.in the fifth century by settlers trying to flee the aggressions of the German people (Huns and Lombards), settling there since they did not feel safe on the mainland. Your The name comes from the Italian language "Venezia", ​​it is the capital of the province of Venice and is located in the northeast of Italy.Its main historical center was declared by UNESCO as P Atrimony of Humanity .Within the city there is no traffic by wheels and collective transport takes place through boats that are known a...

Can you feel attracted to someone in an INEVITABLE and passionate way? Apparently yes

Although what makes us feel sexually attracted to other people remains a profound mystery, some psychologists have dared to expose some hypotheses about that feeling of wanting to be with someone.Among psychological, biological, chemical and social aspects, they have found empirical evidence that seems to point out that it is possible to feel too attracted to someone. Feel attracted to someone in a way as passionate and almost inevitable as in movies is possible! So, be careful! There are many theories, but experts still don't have a concrete answer about that makes you sexually attract another person. Psychologist Seth Myers notes that surely The object of one's sexual attraction is affected by a mixture of biology and past experiences that make him feel a preference for you, but somehow this explanation is not enough.Pheromone studies do not explain either.p> As he has been able to observe during his experience as a psychology practitioner, Myers says that if it ...

What happens inside a black hole? The distressing possibilities

SPOILER ALERT! In a recent movie- Interstellar , 2014– an astronaut played by Matthew McConaughey and a rectangular robot fall into a black hole and survive to tell it.This movie featured a fancy scientific advice, such as the physical Kip Thorne , involved in the discovery of gravitational waves caused by the interaction of two black holes, but that did not prevent them from being too benign and fanciful when describing what could happen to you within a black hole. What happens inside a Black Hole? The distressing possibilities Black holes are points in the universe where the force of gravity is so intense that not even light can escape them.They can be the result of the collapse of red stars or the way in which Some galaxies are structured.This phenomenon was one of the predictions of the theory of relativity in the early twentieth century, with key contributions in the sixties and seventies, by physicists such as Stephen Hawking, and with a discovery in the new millenni...

The beautiful legend of the cats Carey: Did you know her?

Do you have a Persian Carey cat? If so, you will undoubtedly know how special they are, and above all, the unique beauty that genetics, nature and chance have wanted to draw on these beautiful cats. Now, as a good expert that you are in cat matter, you know that when a baby is born with 3 or more colors, we are facing a female.Hence, that Persian Carey cats are one of the most striking creatures that exist for their fur, for their faces, and even their eyes.Perhaps because of this, a magnificent legend was created around this race that we invite you to meet with us. Do you want to discover it? The beautiful legend of the Carey cats: Did you know her? Let's start by getting to know a little more about the Carey Persian breed.We have noted at the beginning, the hawksbill color appears in females .Hence, we can admire beautiful kittens with black and brown fur, or brown or a brown tabby with black spots, there nde their faces, can appear delimited and with an eye of ea...

The mystery of prehistoric giant mushrooms

Imagine a primitive scenario , halfway between fantasy and mystery.It is a time where Earth has only two continents: Euramerica , to the north, and Gondwana , to the south.Imagine now that you are walking on a soil almost devoid of vegetation, there are hardly any plants, and your steps explode in the thicket of a rocky stage, where they stand... The authentic giants of the Earth: the prototaxites.These giant mushrooms were like strange mastiffs that could reach almost 8 meters.The higher the height, the greater the possibility of escaping their spores, and hence their sovereignty In these scenarios of Silurico and Devonico , almost 420 million years ago... But, what were they? Trees, bushes? ...The prototaxites were fungi.If you have felt a chill or have been stung by curiosity, do not hesitate to know more about these creatures worthy of appearing in the "Lost World" of Jules Verne. The era in which the Prototaxites, giant fungi, dominated the Earth Scientist...

A spooky and dangerous drug, MDPV or "cannibal drug"

The methylenedioxypyrovalerona , or MDPV, is a drug called emergent, or design, synthesized in a laboratory to circumvent the legal provisions on narcotics. It is a drug of more or less recent use, whose effects on the organism are really dramatic. A spooky and dangerous drug, the MDPV The MDPV was developed in 1969, but was relegated from the trade until 2004, when it was synthesized again in laboratories as a very cheap recreational substance. It is also known by other very suggestive names: white lightning, purple, red dove, pure ivory, ivory wave, vanilla sky, blessing, moon wave, and in English cloud nine, ivory wave, magic, black rob, super coke, PV or peeve; In recent times it has been associated with two names in particular: “bath salts” –because they sell it online as if it were really bath salts– and “cannibal drug” , because there was a very popular case in Florida, United States, in which a man bit 80% of the face of a homeless person supposedly under the effec...