Tail (anatomy)
From Freepedia
Tail is used to describe the rear end of an animal's body, especially when it forms a distinct, flexible appendage to the trunk. It is the part of the body that roughly corresponds to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals and birds. Its uses include locomotion (e.g. fish), balance (e.g. cats), grasping (e.g. monkeys), social signals (e.g. dogs) and defence (e.g. scorpions). Human embryos have a tail that measures about one-sixth of the size of the embryo itself. As the embryo develops into a fetus, the tail is absorbed by the growing body. Infrequently, a child is born with a "soft tail", which contains no vertebrae, but only blood vessels, muscles, and nerves. Modern procedures allow doctors to eliminate the tail at delivery. The longest human tail on record belonged to a twelve-year-old boy living in what was then French Indochina, which measured nine inches (229 mm)
Tails are useful, especially among mammals, for signaling to others of their kind. For example, deer will raise their tails when they hear something suspicious as a means of warning others.
Animal species with tails include:
