• Question: why do some animals like elephants have tails?

    Asked by 672tund47 to Aimee, Gemma, Hussain, Robert, Ross on 9 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Ross King

      Ross King answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      Great question! Animals can have tails for many different reasons. Elephants, for instance, can use their tails to swat away flies that may be bothering them. Some experts who study elephants have also seen baby elephants holding onto the tails of larger elephants. This might mean that they hold on to the bigger animals when they migrate over large distances, so they don’t get separated from the herd. Elephants are so clever!

      Fish use their tails to help them move through the water and many monkeys have specialised tails that allow them to pick up and hold objects. Did you know that humans used to have tails?! Over time we stopped finding having a tail useful, so we got rid of it, but you still have a bone in your body called the coccyx (also known as the tailbone), which used to be part of our old tails!

      😀

    • Photo: Hussain Jaffery

      Hussain Jaffery answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      Animals have tails because usually, tails give them some sort of advantage in the wild, such as helping with balance and sensing the environment behind them by feeling around. Some types of monkeys and lemurs use them to grasp as well.

      Tails exist because most land animals evolved from snake or salamander-like creatures, and have remained with. Humans have tails too! We have a very tiny tail bone attached just below the femur. We have lost most of it over time, as it probably wasn’t useful anymore.

      But as to why huge animals like elephants have a thin tail? I think it probably has to do with hygiene. For example elephants can control their tails precisely to swat flies. Would be pretty handy back there.

    • Photo: Aimee Goodall

      Aimee Goodall answered on 10 Nov 2015:

      Some animals have tails to help with their balance, for example when they were climbing trees.
      There are a few animals, who used to need a tail, but as they have evolved there is no need for them any more. Humans have are an example of this animal, we still have a small tail bone at the bottom of our back.

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