Fancy a bit of tail?

September 28, 2007 7:05 AM

We all had one in the womb. For most of us, that's as far as it goes. Now and again, it hangs around until birth, when the surgeon's natural instinct is to hack it off - although sometimes things aren't quite what they seem. Not everyone has the surgery. In some cases, the vestigial tail remains surprisingly active(video), And unsurprisingly in these bodymod furrified days, some who don't have tails would like one, although getting there and learning to use one will not be without its problems.
posted by Devonian (29 comments total)

no link to devo?
posted by bruce at 7:12 AM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

From the 2nd link:

When we compare this “human tail” with the tail of other vertebrates, the difference is evident. This tails do not contain vertebral structures. In fact, there is only one case reported in medical literature in which the human tail had vertebral remnants

Neat stuff. I'd only seen a couple of pictures of very short vestigial tails before now. That video and the images here are fascinating. I can sort of understand the immediate impulse to just cut out the difference, but I'd love to see an interview with someone who's living with a tail.
posted by mediareport at 7:31 AM on September 28, 2007

The organ that you are going to see is not a sexual masculine organ.

Not confuse.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:34 AM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

In Geek Love, there's a stripper with a tail. Ooh-la-la!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:39 AM on September 28, 2007

Great post. The vestigial tail is something I wanted to research some day, and these are the first photos I've seen.
posted by malaprohibita at 7:39 AM on September 28, 2007

I wonder how the creationists explain this one?
posted by Malor at 7:48 AM on September 28, 2007

I'm not sure, but I think it'd look a lot less freaky if it weren't hairless.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:49 AM on September 28, 2007

Tails are also associated with spina bifida.

In other news, this post goes great with breakfast!
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 7:53 AM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

The organ that you are going to see is not a sexual masculine organ.

That's what they say. I call rule 34.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:21 AM on September 28, 2007

The video is almost like a clip from a Tool video.
posted by Mr_Zero at 8:22 AM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wonder how the creationists explain this one?

Come on Malor ... this is clearly the work of the devil.
posted by itchylick at 8:23 AM on September 28, 2007

It's gross. Although I'm sure there's a porn site for it somewhere.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:26 AM on September 28, 2007

In Kilgore Trouts magnum opus Venus in the Half Shell, there is tail porn.
Oh yes, there's tail porn.
posted by SPUTNIK at 8:46 AM on September 28, 2007

Christ, what asshole?
posted by wfrgms at 9:06 AM on September 28, 2007

Somebody call Ben Stein and tell him his Intelligent Designer fucked up.
posted by Avenger at 9:13 AM on September 28, 2007

I think if we all hunker down and put our hearts into it we can derail this into an argument about whether circumcision is mutilation.
posted by tula at 9:20 AM on September 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

There is no way in hell I am clicking on any of those links.
posted by mecran01 at 9:28 AM on September 28, 2007

You might want a NSFW on the "sometimes things aren't quite what they seem" link.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:09 AM on September 28, 2007

I'm having such strong visceral reaction to the pictures of these tails. I physically recoil and shudder and think, "Remove it, remove it, right now!", and generally feel like one of the bad people in John Wyndham's The Chrysalids. It's amazing how deep rooted the human intolerance of biological variants can be.
posted by orange swan at 11:02 AM on September 28, 2007

My great grandfather had a vestigial tail that was a couple of inches long. The one I was born with was significantly smaller and it eventually became much less evident. Mine was mostly just skin and hair. When I was pregnant, it started to be obvious again much to my husband's amusement.

During the pregnancy, my husband asked a nurse during an ultrasound about the presence of a tail on our son. None was seen. He also asked how many toes our son had. Normal count. (Same great grandfather was also polydactyl with 6 toes on each foot.) The nurse told the doctor. The doctor asked us to see a genetic counselor and shuttled us into the counselor's office before we were excused to leave. An hour later, we were able to leave and the counselor was shaking her head at us.
posted by onhazier at 11:09 AM on September 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

this is clearly the work of the devil

That tail in the video would come in handy during the satanic orgies though.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:21 AM on September 28, 2007

Also, that guy in the 'everyone' link is in serious need of a back, sack and crack job.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:28 AM on September 28, 2007

My niece was born with very mild spina bifida, they sewed her up and she's not expected to have any health issues from it. The cool thing is that she has this awesome scar right near her tailbone. I keep trying to convince her mom that when Lily is a bit older, she should be told that the scar is from the tail she was born with. That's what I'm gonna tell her, anyway.
posted by arcticwoman at 11:38 AM on September 28, 2007

I have lower back problems. If I had a long tail like my dog, Lex Lasher, maybe I could wag them away.
posted by Huplescat at 4:50 PM on September 28, 2007

Two tails, arcticwoman. Prehensile. That she used to play with blocks as a toddler. Almost like a third hand.

When she's significantly older, she'll question how she was able to watch what she was doing...
posted by five fresh fish at 6:29 PM on September 28, 2007

My mom was born with one. Seriously.

It was removed shortly after birth and we always wondered if this was related to the horrendous headches that plagued her until she died.
posted by Kickstart70 at 8:08 PM on September 28, 2007

What no comments from puke and cry?
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:27 AM on September 29, 2007

I find it quite interesting that my reaction to the photos was one of visceral, momentary repulsion. Then I was intrigued, and kept looking, fascinated.

If I met a man with a tail, would I touch and caress it like a penis? It doesn't look like my dog's tail, all fluffy, flouncy fur, but rather, disturbingly phallic.

Or is that intriguingly phallic?

If my child was born with one, would I be horrified? Would I have the doctors excise it immediately? Would I tell the child it had ever been there?
posted by Savannah at 3:46 PM on September 30, 2007

Are we sure that wasn't fake? It doesn't see placed in the right spot: there've gotta be a few more vertebra below it, and I'm under the impression that tails are an extension of the spinal column, not an outgrowth from the column.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:07 PM on September 30, 2007