Wrinkly fingers from sitting in the bath for too long could well have a useful purpose, according to research.

We have shown wrinkled fingers give a better grip in wet conditions

Wrinkles that form on skin after being in water improve grip on wet objects, scientists from Newcastle University claim to have shown.

The study compared the results of people taking objects out of water with and without the prune-like skin formation.

Author Tom Smulders, publishing the paper in Biology Letters, said: “We have shown that wrinkled fingers give a better grip in wet conditions. It could be working like treads on your car tyres which allow more of the tyre to be in contact with the road and gives you a better grip.

“Going back in time, this wrinkling of our fingers in wet conditions could have helped with gathering food from wet vegetation. As we see the effect in our toes too, this may have been an advantage as our ancestors were able to get a better footing in the rain.”

In the study, people picked up marbles of different sizes with normal hands or with wrinkled fingers after having soaked their hands in warm water for 30 minutes. They were faster if their fingers were wrinkled but it made no difference when moving dry objects.

“ This could diminish the sensitivity in our fingertips or could increase the risk of damage through catching on objects, ” said Smulders