The Furry Forums
Furry Chat => General => Topic started by: UnwelcomeSceptic on May 07, 2009, 08:47:14 PM
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Okay. Do not be mad, just ponder with me. Is there a way to make a tail on a humanoid bipedal form not a hindrance or threat to that form?
No fur-bashing here. I [theoretically] love tails! Just wanting a good argument against some rather critical cohorts of mine, something scientifically sound.
They say:
1. Tails are a continuation of the spine, therefore they are susceptible to very painful strains and breaks easily.
2. Tails could become broken easily by a fall onto the normally fleshy hind-end of the body, which may have adverse effects on the tailbone (and if the tailbone breaks, this could result in local or extended paralysis.
3. Tails would be very sensitive to pulling and pulling would be uncomfortable to the recipient, like having one's spine supposedly yanked (and that, obviously, could cause some health problems).
Any realistic counters to these points are very appreciated. And don't say "it's fantasy, just try to have fun" or you might as well be adding fuel to their combined fire.
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Well, to answer the main question: Yes and no. Primarily a lengthened tail is for balance of some type. For example, cheetahs use their tail for balance at running at high speeds.
1: True, but it is dependent on how long the tail is.
2: Partially True (only paralysis from the point of the break and down)
3: True to some extent (Health problems caused by a yanked tail may only involve stress-induced ones, but only if it's constantly yanked)
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Well... I'm not exactly an expert on anatomy or anything, but that being said:
I don't really see why the tail would be any more of a problem to us than it is to animals. Yeah, you can say it could get hurt, but if you step on a dog's tail hard enough, it's going to get injured too. But if a dog's tail is broken, the dog doesn't become paralyzed from the waist down. It just ends up with a broken tail, and that's it. When animals have their tails docked, it usually doesn't affect their health in a large way either.
Tailbones are designed differently from the spine's vertebrae. They are also separated from the actual spine by the sacrum (piece of bone that joins the spine to the pelvis). If a tail is pulled, it surely would be uncomfortable to say the least - but again, if you do that to an animal, they don't like it either. That's why you just don't. It would not be like yanking on your spine, however. Because the sacrum separates the spine from the tailbones, it would probably yank more on your pelvis rather than your back.
And, on top of all that, tailbones are often surrounded by some kind of protection, be it muscles or cartilage. So it's not like you'd just be sitting directly on bones. It would be cushioned in some way.
Plus, there are some animals that do occasionally stand on two legs, remember. Monkeys and lemurs walk/hop along on two legs when they feel like it, and kangaroos use their tail almost as a third leg. And that's just a couple examples.
I don't see why it's that unreasonable to think tails would be impossible on humans. We all develop with a tail anyway as an embryo. It just goes away before birth.
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Now that you mention it wasn't there that kid in India or something, who was born with a tail?
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Yea, but they had it amputated... It was REALLY short though. (2-3 in?)
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Yea, but they had it amputated... It was REALLY short though. (2-3 in?)
It was about 9 inches long.
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I knew I could count on this forum for some reasonably intelligent responses , now that I have ammo I shall rain hot death down upon them.
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I knew I could count on this forum for some reasonably intelligent responses , now that I have ammo I shall rain hot death down upon them.
Well put. Enjoy your masquerade of pwnage.
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If you do intend to retaliate, do so in a professional (and literate) manner, and you will definitely win the battle of wits.
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9in?! Wow! It looked short! Was it a grown man or a baby?
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he was a baby when they had it amputated, but only after they had celebrated the possiblity that he might be a 'godchild' or something, watched it on animal planet >.>
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9in?! Wow! It looked short! Was it a grown man or a baby?
Well, 9 inches was the longest one. There has been a handful of people born with tails. Most of them have it amputated at some point.
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Just a skin tail? That probably looked strange...
now if it had fur, then THAT would be awesome.
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The guy I saw was about mid-late 20's on Ripley's Beleive it Or Not.
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I love tails, having a tail would be so much fun and it would look so cool :P. I just think an animal would be boring without a tail.
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Animals are still cool, even if they don't have tails. =D
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Okay. Do not be mad, just ponder with me. Is there a way to make a tail on a humanoid bipedal form not a hindrance or threat to that form?
No fur-bashing here. I [theoretically] love tails! Just wanting a good argument against some rather critical cohorts of mine, something scientifically sound.
They say:
1. Tails are a continuation of the spine, therefore they are susceptible to very painful strains and breaks easily.
2. Tails could become broken easily by a fall onto the normally fleshy hind-end of the body, which may have adverse effects on the tailbone (and if the tailbone breaks, this could result in local or extended paralysis.
3. Tails would be very sensitive to pulling and pulling would be uncomfortable to the recipient, like having one's spine supposedly yanked (and that, obviously, could cause some health problems).
Any realistic counters to these points are very appreciated. And don't say "it's fantasy, just try to have fun" or you might as well be adding fuel to their combined fire.
your flawless logic is not welcome here. (joking)