Why don't humans have tails anymore?

Question

Since some humans are still born with tails?

Answer 1

I have a tail, and I am human...

uh

Answer 2

we never did

Answer 3

Actually, more people are still born with tails then you would think. But, the obvious answer is we don't need them anymore.

Answer 4

A tail is an extra limb found in animals which use it for balancing..like monkeys on tree..animals such as dogs and cheetah also use it for balancing when on the run..a cheetah's tail is very well developed like the monkeys'..Because    

they constantly use it..so according to the theory of evolution they still have their tails...But humans don't need a tail for any purpose altough we have a tail bone..so evolution forced humans to be born without a tail..

i hope that is the answer...evolution...

Answer 5

No apes hav tails; since we're apes, we don't have tails. (In some, they hav a genetic mutation that gives thm a tail.)

Answer 6

I had to do an Internet search on this one.  So, it is some recessive genetic code that every once in a billion or so activates still in humans.  Cool.  But I don't know the answer to your question except to say "evolution" for one reason or another.

Lol, you ask some great questions.

Answer 7

we never had that

Answer 8

This question gets asked a lot. The answer is, as others have said, evolution. But that needs a bit of explanation.

It's not that evolution "forced" us to lose our tails, or even that they disappeared because we don't use them any more. That's not quite how evolution works.

Actually, evolution can be quite a strong force in keeping things the way they are. This is because there are plenty of ways for something as complex as an organ or a whole body to go wrong, and much fewer for it to work properly. So usually, if an organ is needed for a creature's survival, if that creature is born without that organ, they won't survive long. That's what natural selection is.

My point is that the things that we need, evolution tends to preserve. But the things that we don't need, evolution doesn't care about. So what tends to happen is that mutations accumulate in those organs that we don't need, quickly rendering them useless - or making them disappear, as in the case of tails. Most of the genetic code for making a tail is still there, there's just a couple of mistakes - mutations - that make the whole thing inoperative.

Since it's a fairly simple mutation that has "turned off" our tails, it's not impossible for a mutation in a foetus to turn it on again. This is called an atavism.

Answer 9

natural selection.

Answer 10

We dun use it anymore so we keep it inside our body.

Answer 11

We don't have tails because we are apes.  Apes became much more upright and the tail wasn't really useful to them.  

It probably just got in the way so was lost through evolution.  It is more efficient to not have to grow the tail and being tailless has a few advantages.  

It is easier to crawl through thick vegetation.  We are narrower  front to back so it allows us to turn sideways to squeeze into small places.  That could make it easier for them to seek shelter from their worst predators.  

Your rivals don't have such an easy handle to grab when they are chasing you.  That could be a big deal in ape fights.  

When you become heavy, it is less useful for balance and useless for gripping branches if any ape ancestor even had a prehensile tail.

Answer 12

Humans never had a tails and..... we are not Saiyans

Answer 13

Apparently it got in the way.  I suspect it interfered with the upright gait.  This is also probably the same reason the other large apes that walk do not have a tail.  (gorillas and orangutans don't have tails either, do they?).

Answer 14

we lose them while we are in the womb... everyone has a tail in the womb. they receed back into us before we are born

Answer 15

we cut them off at birth nowdays so we dont have to sew holes in our pants for it to stick out. and our domesticated cats would chase it if it was dangling there.

Answer 16

Humans do have tails. They are internal, and not external. Do a web lookup on the human spine,and you will find that humans have 4 tail bones at the bottom of the spine. These are the coccyx bones. Interesting, gorillas only have 3 tail bones. In this sense, gorillas are more evolved than humans.