time to bring it back then, alongside horn implants, and third tit.
Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
101–110 of 247 posts
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#102time to bring it back then, alongside horn implants, and third tit.
I'd I'd be drinking milk, it would be out of my nostrils right about now.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#103They buried the lede: Even if the driving mutation identified in the study could be undone, “it still wouldn’t bring back the tail.” Oh well.
So close!
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet there's plenty of animals that have tails and don't spend time in trees, such as dogs, horses and cows.
The tail seems like vestigial anatomy (originally useful in fish) that has three possible states in mammals: 1. Repurposed for a new function (tree swinging, signals) 2. Not much used but still in the repo (mice) 3. Garbage collected (apes).
Tails are extremely useful to mice, especially for balance and climbing: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/30/why--mi...
Be careful with assuming functionlessness, in general. Evolution does not like spending energy on sticky-out bits that are prone to injury, or good handles for predators to catch, unless they provide some serious advantage.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#105[flagged]
Yes sex bad. Think of the women. I can’t even begin to imagine being in this pathetic neutered headspace.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#106[flagged]
You’re getting all the furries chiming in here.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
The tail seems like vestigial anatomy (originally useful in fish) that has three possible states in mammals: 1. Repurposed for a new function (tree swinging, signals) 2. Not much used but still in the repo (mice) 3. Garbage collected (apes).
I'm curious about the "garbage collected" theory as there doesn't seem like a lot of selection pressure to remove tails simply due to them not being useful and consuming energy to grow. The appendix is a far more likely candidate for garbage collection as it has no obvious function and can easily cause death if it bursts. I suspect that there's another reason that apes lost their tails - most likely related to walkin…
> The appendix is a far more likely candidate for garbage collection as it has no obvious function
Preserving the gut microbiome through diarrhoea and vomiting.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#108They buried the lede: Even if the driving mutation identified in the study could be undone, “it still wouldn’t bring back the tail.” Oh well.
So I’m guessing this is less like, “we found the flag that toggles tail production” and more “we found a chunk of code that belongs to tail production”? The first bit of the article sure makes it sound like this DNA is what does it all.
Probably the difference between necessary and sufficient.
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#109Monkeys have tails to swing and walk in trees.
Yet, according to TFA, apes had already lost their tail while they were still tree dwellers.
Presumably as primates got bigger, tails were less useful (not strong enough to be prehensile appendages, and not as handy for balance if you climb methodically instead of carefree leaping).
Re: Scientists have traced human tail loss to a short sequence of genetic code
#110time to bring it back then, alongside horn implants, and third tit.
How about a third eye?
"The parietal eye is found in the tuatara, most lizards, frogs, salamanders, certain bony fish, sharks, and lampreys...It is absent in mammals, but was present in their closest extinct relatives, the therapsids"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parietal_eye
You may wish to consult your pineal gland.