12 Rare Body Features You Won’t Believe Are Real

With billions of humans on Earth, it’s tough to feel like one of a kind. Believe it or not, everyone is unique in their own way. Every person is different and special. Some humans even have rare body features that blow the mind. In some cases, a rare disease or genetic disorder causes these rare body features.

Genetic conditions can affect hair, eyes, and skin. These fascinating conditions have baffled the most extraordinary minds for decades. Many of these rare conditions or traits have several obstacles and drawbacks.

These body features are extremely rare, making it difficult for doctors and scientists to truly understand the nature of these conditions. On the other hand, a few of these conditions have some benefits too. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at these rare body features. 

12 Rare Body Features You Won’t Believe Are Real

1. Natural Short Sleepers

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When the average person gets less than four hours of sleep, they’re often irritable and struggle throughout the daytime. In fact, most people require six to eight hours of sleep ideally. However, individuals with the familial natural short sleep trait can sleep less than the average person. They can sleep for a few hours while waking up well-rested and ready to take on the day.

Unlike sleep deprivation, natural short sleepers wake up without any consequences, such as irritation or grumpiness. Several famous historical figures, celebrities, and politicians have this uncommon trait, including Martha Stewart, Nikola Tesla, Donald Trump, Mozart, Thomas Edison, and Barack Obama. 

2. Extra Rib

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It’s difficult to spot, but some people are born with an extra rib. The average person has 12 pairs of rib bones totaling 24 individual ribs. Better known as a cervical rib, people born with the rare condition have 25 ribs instead. The extra rib appears at birth above the first rib.

It grows above the collarbone at the base of the neck. It’s such a rare body feature that only around 1%, or one in every 200 people, have an extra rib. In most cases, they’re not even aware the extra rib exists. 

3. Supertasters

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Only about 25 percent of the population has this unique condition known as a supertaster. Individuals with this rare condition have a sense of taste that’s wildly intense to food that’s sweet, salty, and bitter. The condition is recognizable by tiny dots on the tongue. Supertasters usually avoid spicy foods, vegetables, and alcohol.

In many cases, the taste of anything bitter is unbearable, so they avoid those foods. The upside is supertasters tend to be in great cardiovascular shape due to avoiding fatty and sweet foods. 

4. Red Hair

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While we all know someone with red hair, it’s one of the rarest body features. It feels like the world is full of red hair, but only 2% of the worldwide population has this unique trait. The rare phenomenon is common across Europe, with roughly 2 to 6% of people with red hair.

Additionally, 30% of advertisements in America feature red hair celebrities. Despite the rare body feature, it’s common around the globe. It’s a recessive gene that requires both parents to have red hair. 

5. Albinsim

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Albinism is a rare disorder in humans where they lack pigmentation in the skin, eyes, or hair. The condition can also cause vision problems. Roughly one in 18,000 to 20,000 people have a type of albinism. Albinism comes in many forms, but there are two main versions.

Oculocutaneous affects the eyes, hair, and skin, while ocular only impacts the eyes. While the lack of pigment varies, the eyes are usually green, blue, or brown, meaning they often have red eyes in photographs. It’s one of the rarest conditions around the globe.

6. Golden Blood 

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Donating blood is vital due to the different blood types. Some people are lucky to have a common or compatible blood type while others have a rare blood type. For instance, 0.6% of the American population is AB negative. While AB negative is extremely rare, it’s not the rarest. That honor for the rarest blood type goes to the aptly named golden blood.

Better known as Rhnull, the blood type lacks Rh antigens. The first known case was an indigenous Australian in 1961. Since then, there have been roughly 40 additional cases of golden blood.

7. Second Set of Eyelashes

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Throughout Hollywood’s golden era, Elizabeth Taylor was the biggest movie star in the world. She was best known for her dazzling and sparkling eyes, notably her long lashes. Taylor suffered a rare genetic mutation that helped give her those incredible lashes. Taylor was part of a small percentage of the population who suffered from distichiasis.

This rare condition causes a second group of eyelashes to appear from the ducts of the meibomian glands. It’s a rare mutation of the FOXC2 gene that can cause eye irritation, tearing, and poor vision in some cases. The rare body part helped separate Taylor from the rest of the stars from that era.

8. Marfan Syndrome

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Marfan Syndrome is a rare inherited genetic condition that affects the connective tissue, which impacts the heart, eyes, skin, lungs, bones, and blood vessels. Also known as MFS, individuals with the conditions are usually thin and tall with long toes, fingers, arms, and legs.

They tend to have curved spines and flexible joins, with only one in 5,000 people having the rare disease. While there is no known cure for the genetic mutation, there are various ways to manage the condition, such as avoiding intense physical activity. 

9. Gray Eyes

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Various eye colors include brown, amber, hazel, green, and blue. Blue is one of the rarest colors, however, there’s one even rarer color, gray. Less than 1% of the population has gray eyes.

Grey eyes usually happen due to a low level of melanin in the front layer of the iris. Individuals with albinism often have violet or red eyes. On the other hand, there’s very little chance of meeting anyone with gray eyes unless they’re in Northern or Eastern Europe. Undoubtedly, it’s one of the rarest body features. 

10. Waardenburg Syndrome

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Roughly one in 42,000 people have Waardenburg Syndrome. It’s one of the rarest conditions in the world but still quite prevalent. Those with Waardenburg syndrome often suffer from a lack of pigment, hearing loss, white patches of skin, and fused fingers. In some cases, there’s a wider gap in the corner of the eyes.

The rare mutation usually leads to bright blue eyes or one blue eye and one brown eye. In 1951, Dutch ophthalmologist Petrus Johannes Waardenburg first described the syndrome, which causes pigmentation irregularities and defects from the neural crest. 

11. Heterochromia Iridum 

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Often inherited, heterochromia iridum affects the color of the eye, specifically the color of the iris. In most cases, one eye color is different from the other, which is complete heterochromia.

A central heterochromia is when spikes or a ring shines from the pupil. Lastly, sectoral is when a small part of the iris is a different color than the rest of the eye. While the condition can occur due to disease or injury, it’s often inherited and passed down through the generations. 

12. Extra Hole Near the Ear

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It’s a rare condition, but some people have multiple ear holes. Roughly 5%t of the population is born with an extra hole in the ear. Also known as the preauricular sinus, the extra hole is a tiny spot at the front of the lobe. It’s a small hole that’s useless and harmless. The only danger involved is a possible infection. It’s undoubtedly one of the oddest and rarest body parts.