Vestigial Tail

HeadlessHorseman · #1 ● 04-17-2013, 06:19 AM

True Human Tail - Vestigial Tail

All humans are created with a small tail that is later absorbed by the body and developed into the tailbone. In some rare cases, small amounts of tissue are left hanging on the tailbone area of the body. Most often, the small piece of skin contains no bones, but does contain nerves and blood vessels. In some rarer cases, there are up to five vertebrae in the small tail – resulting in a true human tail or vestigial tail.

The true human tail is not really a tail at all, according to experts. It is thought to be linked to spina bifida or a hiccup in the natural human development process. Typically, white blood cells degrade vertebrae six to 12 in the 8th week of gestation. The 4th and 5th vertebrae are shrunk during the process and eventually skin covers the new spinal cord. If white blood cells do not absorb the latter vertebrae 100%, a tail could be left.

The longest known tail is 13 inches long and belongs to a man in India.

In the earliest stages of development of a human embryo, it has a little tail. This tail measures about 1/6th the size of the entire length of the embryo (the equivalent of a 12-inch tail on a 6-foot man). But as the fetus develops, the tail is absorbed. Enzymes dissolve the bones, and the entire structure retracts into the fetus's body.

But not always!

Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, a baby is born with its vestigial tail still attached. According to the National Institute of Health, "There have been 23 vestigial tails reported in the literature since 1884," or approximately one baby born with a tail every 5 ½ years.

In most cases, the tail is just a small little tag sticking out from the base of the spine. But in some remarkable cases, the tail can be unusually long, or the owner may have motor control over it. One of the most surprising cases of a human vestigial tail belongs to a tea plantation worker in West Bengal, India named Chandre Oram, who has a tail that is 13 inches long and covered with dense hair.

He is regarded locally as an incarnation of Hanuman, the monkey god. Locals report that their ailments have been miraculously healed after they touched his tail. Unfortunately, Oram remains single, despite his search for a wife. Approximately twenty women have so far rejected his marriage proposals, because they refuse to accept his tail.