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Why do almost all vertebrates have tails, but not apes and frogs?

Last Updated: 16.06.2025 23:43

Why do almost all vertebrates have tails, but not apes and frogs?

And apes and frogs are no exception. Both still have the lost anal tail. It is just shortened and entirely hidden inside the adult body. But you can still see it in their skeletons.

Vertebrates are chordates and all chordates have, as part of the defining body plan of the phylum, a post anal tail.

And of course, frogs have a perfectly normal and prominent chordate post-anal tail as juveniles.

For those who were actually old enough to have experienced the 1970s and not for those who were born in the 70s. What were the pros and cons of that era?