GetWiki

{{Short description|Distinct, flexible appendage to the torso of an animal}}{{Redirect|Tails||Tail (disambiguation)}}File:White-tailed deer, tail up.jpg|thumb|A white-tailed deerwhite-tailed deerThe tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, reptiles, and birds. While tails are primarily a feature of vertebrates, some invertebrates including scorpions and springtails, as well as snails and slugs, have tail-like appendages that are sometimes referred to as tails. Tailed objects are sometimes referred to as “caudate” and the part of the body associated with or proximal to the tail are given the adjective “caudal”.

Function

File:Alopex lagopus IMG 9019.JPG|thumb|Vulpes lagopusVulpes lagopusAnimal tails are used in a variety of ways. They provide a source of locomotion for fish and some other forms of marine life.BOOK, Robert W. Blake, Fish Locomotion,books.google.com/books?id=M7E8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA143, 26 May 1983, CUP Archive, 978-0-521-24303-2, 143, Many land animals use their tails to brush away flies and other biting insects.BOOK, Gilbert WALDBAUER, Gilbert Waldbauer, What Good Are Bugs? Insects in the Web of Life,books.google.com/books?id=Vis8XubJ_-QC&pg=PA253, 30 June 2009, Harvard University Press, 978-0-674-04474-6, 253, Most canines use their tails to communicate mood and intention.JOURNAL, Masashi Hasegawa, Nobuyo Ohtani, Dogs’ Body Language Relevant to Learning Achievement, Animals, February 2014, 4, 1, 45–58, Azabu University School of Veterinary Medicine, 26479883, 4494300, 10.3390/ani4010045, free, Some species, including cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance;BOOK, Outwitting Cats: Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Persuading the Felines in Your Life That What You Want Is Also What They Want, 2004,books.google.com/books?id=WmuQQXU6EtAC&pg=PA21, Rowman & Littlefield, 978-1-59921-625-6, 21, BOOK, Byron Dawson, The Heinemann Science Scheme,books.google.com/books?id=SDm82kL--uoC&pg=PT125, 2003, Heinemann, 978-0-435-58332-3, 125, and some, such as monkeys and opossums, have what are known as prehensile tails, which are adapted to allow them to grasp tree branches.BOOK, Melissa Stewart, New World Monkeys,books.google.com/books?id=iUnDmeI3B1IC&pg=PA11, 1 January 2007, Lerner Publications, 978-0-8225-6765-3, 11, Tails are also used for social signaling. Some deer species flash the white underside of their tails to warn other nearby deer of possible danger,BOOK, D. Muller-Schwarze, Chemical Signals: Vertebrates and Aquatic Invertebrates,books.google.com/books?id=WHzVBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47, 6 December 2012, Springer Science & Business Media, 978-1-4684-1027-3, 47, beavers slap the water with their tails to indicate danger,BOOK, Bruce M. Carlson, Beneath the Surface: A Natural History of a Fisherman’s Lake,books.google.com/books?id=omHZolGetNoC&pg=PT240, 14 October 2008, Minnesota Historical Society, 978-0-87351-656-3, 240, and canids (including domestic dogs) indicate emotions through the positioning and movement of their tails.BOOK, Stanley Coren, Sarah Hodgson, Understanding Your Dog For Dummies,books.google.com/books?id=nzAsR5VPXkgC&pg=PA250, 15 February 2011, John Wiley & Sons, 978-1-118-05276-1, 250, Some species’ tails are armored, and some, such as those of scorpions, contain venom.BOOK, Adele Richardson, Scorpions,books.google.com/books?id=RcEkzllZzVEC&pg=PA20, 1 July 2002, Capstone, 978-0-7368-1318-1, 20, Some species of lizard can detach (“cast“) their tails from their bodies. This can help them to escape predators, which are either distracted by the wriggling, detached tail or left with only the tail while the lizard flees. Tails cast in this manner generally grow back over time, though the replacement is typically darker in colour than the original and contains only cartilage, not bone.BOOK, Stephen J. Divers, Douglas R. Mader, Reptile Medicine and Surgery,books.google.com/books?id=7Ai4BKhi0VUC&pg=PT3468, 13 December 2005, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1-4160-6477-X, 3468, Various species of rat demonstrate a similar function with their tails, known as degloving, in which the outer layer is shed in order for the animal to escape from a predator.JOURNAL, Mackenzie, SJ, 2015, Innervation and function of rat tail muscles for modeling cauda equina injury and repair, Muscle and Nerve, 52, 1, 94–102, 10.1002/mus.24498, 25346299, 40356618, Most birds’ tails end in long feathers called rectrices. These feathers are used as a rudder, helping the bird steer and maneuver in flight; they also help the bird to balance while it is perched.BOOK, David Burnie, DK Eyewitness Books: Bird,books.google.com/books?id=ibgDU5eDVu4C&pg=PA19, 5 May 2008, DK Publishing, 978-0-7566-6758-0, 19, In some species—such as birds of paradise, lyrebirds, and most notably peafowl—modified tail feathers play an important role in courtship displays.BOOK, Exploring Life Science,archive.org/details/exploringlifesci10mars, registration, 2000, Marshall Cavendish, 978-0-7614-7145-5, 731, The extra-stiff tail feathers of other species, including woodpeckers and woodcreepers, allow them to brace themselves firmly against tree trunks.BOOK, Robert W. McFarlane, A Stillness in the Pines: The Ecology of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker,books.google.com/books?id=fBVPQqWpFCkC&pg=PA40, 1994, Norton, 978-0-393-31167-9, 40, The tails of grazing animals, such as horses, are used both to sweep away insects and positioned or moved in ways that indicate the animal’s physical or emotional state.BOOK, Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Magic Tree House Fact & Fiction: Horses,books.google.com/books?id=6pBoBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT113, 28 October 2014, Random House Children’s Books, 978-0-553-52368-3, 113,

Human tails

(File:Gould Pyle 129.jpg|thumb|Tail-like structure on a female newborn from coccyx protrusion)In humans, tail bud refers to the part of the embryo which develops into the end of the spine.WEB,www.merriam-webster.com/medical/tail%20bud, Tail Bud, Merriam Webster, 4 June 2020, However, this is not a tail.WEB,www.ehd.org/developmental-stages/stage16.php, Developmental Stages in Human Embryos: Stage 16, the Endowment for Human Development, 4 June 2020, What Kunitomo (1918) designated the “longest tail” at stage 16 is nothing of the kind but is merely the caudal end of the embryo, which will develop into the coccygeal region., Infrequently, a child is born with a “soft tail”, which contains no vertebrae, but only blood vessels, muscles, and nerves, but this is regarded as an abnormality rather than a vestigial true tail, even when such an appendage is located where the tail would be expected.NEWS, Human tail–caudal appendage: tethered cord, February 1, 2008,www.nature.com/jp/journal/v28/n7/full/jp200839a.html, Nature (journal), Nature, 2009-04-28, NEWS, The ‘human tail’ causing tethered cervical cord, November 14, 2006,www.nature.com/sc/journal/v45/n8/full/3101988a.html, Nature (journal), Nature, 2009-04-28, Fewer than 40 cases have been reported of infants with “true tails” containing the caudal vertebrae, a result of atavism.JOURNAL, Shad, Jimmy, Biswas, Rakesh, April 18, 2012, An infant with caudal appendage, BMJ Case Reports, 2012, bcr1120115160, 10.1136/bcr.11.2011.5160, 22604513, 3339178, In 2024 scientists claimed to have found a genetic mutation that contributed to the loss of the tail in the common ancestor of humans and other apes.NEWS, Weisberger, Mindy, Why don’t humans have tails? Scientists find answers in an unlikely place,www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/world/humans-tails-genetic-mutation-junk-dna-scn/index.html, March 23, 2024, CNN, live,archive.today/20240324031927/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/23/world/humans-tails-genetic-mutation-junk-dna-scn/index.html, March 24, 2024, March 24, 2024, JOURNAL, Callaway, Ewen, 2024-02-28, How humans lost their tails — and why the discovery took 2.5 years to publish,www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00610-x, Nature, 627, 8002, 15–16, en, 10.1038/d41586-024-00610-x, 38418734, 2024Natur.627...15C, Humans have a “tail bone” (the coccyx) attached to the pelvis; it comprises fused vertebrae, usually four, at the bottom of the vertebral column. It does not normally protrude externally - humans are an (wikt:acaudal|acaudal) (or acaudate) species (i.e., tailless).

Gallery

File:Cub Stalks Tail.jpg|Lion (Panthera leo)File:Scorpion tail.jpg|ScorpionFile:Pig tail DSC03974.jpg|Pig (Sus domestica)File:Queue glyptodon museum dijo.jpg|Glyptodon (Glyptodon asper)File:Lactoria cornuta (cola).006 - Aquarium Finisterrae.JPG|Longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta)File:La Palmyre 041-crop.jpg|Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi)File:Alligator Tail.jpg|American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis)File:Flusspferd Backstage.JPG|Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)

See also

• Empennage, the tail of an aircraft
• Rump (animal)

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

• {{Commons category-inline|Tails}}

{{Authority control}}

- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "tail" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 4:09am EDT - Wed, May 22 2024