why dont we have tails (coxsyx) why has it kinda been chopped of – Secondary 11

Question: why dont we have tails (coxsyx) why has it kinda been chopped of
- Keywords:
  coccyx,
  evolution,
  spine
Asked by oliverrayner21 to Lisa on 2 Jul 2012.
- Lisa Fitzgerald answered on 2 Jul 2012:
  
  hi @oliverrayner21,
  
  The coccyx bone is fairly small in the human as we have evolved to no longer need a tail and therefore it was shrunk over time. Monkeys need a tail to maintain balance when climbing in trees etc. However as we evolved to live on the ground without jumping long distances or balancing on branches etc we no longer had an evolutionary advantage for one.
  
  Thanks
  
  Lisa

jonathan99 commented on 3 Jul 2012:

ive got a tail

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Jonathan commented on 4 Jul 2012:

I’m not sure that losing tails in evolution is related to not living in trees. Gibbons are brilliant at swinging around trees and lots of chimpanzees and bonobos spend a lot of time in trees. None of these have tails either. They do all spend time on the ground as well.

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Question: why dont we have tails (coxsyx) why has it kinda been chopped of