FYI: Did Cavemen Get Athlete's Foot?
T. Rex Foot Ballista Hard to know, says Will Harcourt- Smith, an expert on early-human fossils at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "Some infections leave their mark on bones. Athlete's foot is not one of those infections. But if we make some logical assumptions, we might be able to make a good guess." Athlete's foot is a fungal infection of the skin-typically by fungi of the Trichophyton genus-that causes skin to scale, flake, and itch. Which makes us ask: Did cavemen even encounter this fungus? "The fungus that causes athlete's foot was definitely around back then, and probably much earlier," says Tim James, who specializes in fungi evolution at the University of Michigan. "Like all fungi, it thrives in moist, unhygienic environments, which is why most people pick it up in locker rooms. I don't imagine that a caveman's dwelling, with a dirt floor covered in animal...