If you saw the move Shallow Hal, you might remember Jason Alexander’s (George from Seinfeld) character with his small, wagging tail. This is another example of how you can’t believe everything that you see in the movies.
This doesn’t mean that people can’t have tails. It’s just that they can’t wag them. Human tails or dorsal cutaneous appendages are rare congenital defects. These “tails” have none of the characteristics of true animal tails. True tails contain bones or have associated muscles that permit movement. The human tail is usually just a fatty outgrowth of skin right at the base of the spine, and often a sign that there might be an underlying spinal defect.
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"Do some people really have tails?" was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 10:45 pm.