Scientists agree that human beings belong to the primate community. This group contains more than 200 animals. However, unlike most of them, humans do not have tails.

A report by the ScienceAlert stated that the world would appear different if humans still used tails. However, the lack of tails leads many to speculate how humans would be if they had them.

Some human children are born with a tail

The tail has not entirely disappeared from humans. In the sixth week of gestation, the human fetus has a tail-like feature made of 6 vertebrae. These vertebrae soon fuse to form the coccyx. However, this tail doesn’t disappear in some humans.

Some children have been born with tails. These tails often come with blood vessels or muscles that facilitate their movement. They are called true tails and are extremely rare. Males children are more likely to develop them.

Most doctors remove these tails in children as they serve no purpose and make them have a more challenging childhood.

Humans are not the only primates without tails. Others are chimpanzees, bonobos, orang-utans, and gorillas. Scientists often wonder why these animals have no tails and if they fared better without them

This change is even more shocking since the lack of a tail puts human beings at a greater risk of spina bifida, a neural tube deformity that exposes the spinal column.

Reasons humans don’t need tails

Scientists have come up with several theories to explain this. One is that tails are for swatting flies, locomotion, and balance. Humans don’t swing on trees thus don’t need tails for locomotion. Moreover, they walk upright on their two feet, so they don’t need help balancing. They can also swat close using their hands.

Other primates, such as apes, have musculoskeletal specifications that include shorter lumber sections that harden their spines. They also have more rigid backs that enable them to leap or fall perfectly, which assists in the grasping of low branches. Additionally, the collaboration of the coccyx and other muscles in the body allows balance in certain primates such as monkeys. For this reason, these animals need tails