The Plausibility of Tails for Humans

[Widdershins 9,964]

   ...and let me assure you, this concept is only partially a Furry idea!

 

    I've had pets almost every year of my life pretty much. Among things I have looked up to & appreciated my animal friends for, is their tails. I truly am enamored by the idea of a tail and the travesty it is that I was not born with one! I've never been too terribly good with reading facial expressions myself, yet I have always loved the idea of being able to nonchalantly express emotions with ease. A tail is a surefire barometer of one's emotions! Just think how life would be like if we had tails! If you ever doubt someone else's claim, you can just lean to one side to take a surreptitious gander at their tensed tail, lean back and go "Ahh... nooo, that's alright. Don't think I trust you."

  On top of that! They're super fluffy n' adorable! It's like carrying a plushie, a butt-pillow and a security blanket all rolled into one! 

  So, what I wish for this thread to do, is to discuss the possibility of humans ever gaining the ability to ever grow their own tails, whichever the style may be.

    Point One: The Medical Field has seen success in growing tissue from petri dishes with the proper ingredients and... whatever nutrients they need for that. Entire ears, noses and even eyeballs, i think, can be created by growing tissue over an artificial, minature scaffolding. We can grow flesh & stitch it on where required! Mind you, this is tissue...not bone or muscle. Still, given the proper support...

   Point Two: The world has seen notable jumps in what technology can do. There already are devices for sale (typically from Japan, I suppose) that can read their wearers emotions or heartbeat, and relate that to a strap-on tail to have it wag in response. Even further, we have technology that can be implanted in an eyeball to then relay information into the brain electronically in order to enable the blind to see again! Cyborg-esque implants aren't too far behind to enable a mental connection to a limb that wasn't already there.

 ...and more importantly... Point Three: The Ethics of Cosmetic Limbs.  No doubt, even if some scientist had a willing subject like myself that would be all for a surgery that complex, there's still loads of paperwork, liabilities, training and likely paying just to attend trials of the steps that get you there without any guarantee of any of the countless steps to make it happen even taking. Add on to that, I'm quite certain no government agency likes the idea of any random citizen just deciding to plug things into their bodies to enable them physical traits they would normally not be capable of. If Science Fiction has taught us anything... body modification... is a bit of a slippery road...

 

  So that's my stance on it. Literally growing your own tail is possible and I'd be the first in line for it, but it has to be far too risky... What do you all think?

  

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

Well, humans do have a tailbone, and near the beginning of development for an unborn baby they look more like a fish than a human, so it stands to reason that at some point in the evolutionary line of homo sapiens, we did indeed have tails.

And there are people that are actually born with 'tails', so to speak. So, yeah, I think it's plausible for humans to have tails.

Edited September 9, 2017 by MidnightFire1222

[Libra 11,691]

Considering the humans did have a tailbone, I'm going to assume that's because either humans did have one or evolved from beings that did have one.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

If we all suddenly were able to get tails we would have to rethink elevators.

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

1 minute ago, GrimGrimoire said:

If we all suddenly were able to get tails we would have to rethink elevators.

Not really. You're not gonna be seeing a money climbing the side of the empire state building too easily in real life.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Just now, MidnightFire1222 said:

Not really. You're not gonna be seeing a money climbing the side of the empire state building too easily in real life.

That is not what I was referring to.

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

Just now, GrimGrimoire said:

That is not what I was referring to.

Be that as it may, it's what i took away from it. Interpretations play into things a lot if one is vague on what they mean.

[SolarFlare13 16,113]

Hmm  ...well...we humans have evolved from apes...I dunno how that's gonna work out  

It would be rather interesting if we did have tails. I mean, most animals use thier tails as a third arm / leg and it could be useful to have...

(The Kangaroo is a good example of this)

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

1 hour ago, Venomous said:

I have been a furry for quite a long while and I have bought 2 different tails that attach to my belt by a loop. I have one wolf tail that is solid black with a slight curve and a husky tail that is blue and white with a larger curve. They each costed roughly $50.00. (The husky tail was a gift from a friend). I also own a pair of black slip-on paws with pink paw pads, a dog collar with my fursona name on a tag attached to it, as well as a matching leash. 

I usually will wear this outfit at conventions if I am not cosplaying as an anime character.

I used to have a friend in high school that wore tails like that all the time. Some people used to make fun of her and grab at the tail, but she just ignored it or told them off or something. I used to think it was kinda neat.

[Widdershins 9,964]

  Well, in typical, I mean the obtaining one much after the fact by whit of surgery or somehow regrowing it back like one would hair. And, of course, the inherent ethic quandaries that would undoubtedly follow in tow with such an option. 

  I feel I can call into question my own stance on this. I remember sitting there watching the spidermans movie what with the Reptile. Some doctor tries to test his regrowing serum on himself, turns into a lizard, goes crazy & decides turning the rest of the city into lizardpeople like himself is 'the way of the future.' I'm sitting there, listening to his usual villain spiel and I think to myself: "Yeah, yeah it would make us stronger, survive better & make everybody look super cool.... no, don't see the downside of the villanry here... well... other then forcing the change on the bystanders."

 

 

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

Well if it was a voluntary thing then it might not be so bad. I wouldn't wanna be a lizard myself though; most of them don't like the cold.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

I have always been fascinated by this idea as well. Watching Dragonball or something when I was younger always sparked a thought like 'Huh, we humans are missing out here.' Zidane from Final Fantasy 9 made me think this as well, I think those were the two main influences. Since then I have always wished that human evolution would have allowed for tails on us even if they still wouldn't have been completely practical. We have the remnants of it, but it still feels like we lost something cool.

[MidnightFire1222 2,276]

Evolution messed something up along the way, though we share most of our DNA with chimpanzees, which also don't have tails.

[Widdershins 9,964]

I have heard that tails are for balance. Basically, the age old argument of "Use it, or lose it." Bipedal stance means a more focused center of gravity, so we don't use it as a tool or for balance or fat reserves so...

  But if anything! As I'm sure anyhuman else can tell you if they've gone through that usual adolescent "awkward phase" bipedal should me we need MORE balance! Look at the typical raptor skeleton! They're bipedal & they need almost half the body dominated by tail! 

    ...and I could really use me a spare place to store fat...

[Guest]

If humans had tails, they'd probably be weird and skinny rope-looking things with no fur whatsoever and the mental image of that is a bit unsettling. 

[Dreambiscuit 11,208]

Oh I want a tail! If I could get a nice fluffy fox tail I'd sign my backside up for it right away. I think people would look great with tails. They'd be so much fun as a fashionable accent. If it had long hair it could be styled, if it was short it would be sporty, if it was long and string-like it would be a useful tool. It would be the perfect counterpoint to a nice hairdo. I want it!

[Widdershins 9,964]

  Well, @Dreambiscuit, to serve as counterpoint & Discord's Advocate, I do hold to @Jaspers point as well. (Oh hey, just noticed the new avatar!)

  Just like with a hairstyle, if you're not going to keep on it & groom it, of course its going to look ratty. Granted, humans aren't exactly laying out in a field all day like horses  to get them dirty, but I've cleaned up after loads of dogs and they don't always wind up as pretty & neat as fanart would have you believe. I don't know where exactly the meat that holds the tail together is in a horse's or fox's tail is, but that'd probably be the same for a human's. More or less a spindly, fleshy stump. But to counterpoint my counterpoint, its all in the way you style & care for it and get used to it. As anybeing who's read the creepier Lyra-centric fanfics can tell you, even a hand can be extraordinarily creepy! 

   I do suppose that if you're going to have a second patch of hair on the separate end of your body (*cough*) it stands to reason it would follow your standards of your head hair. If you've got bushy, quick-growing hair like I do, then I'm certainly a shoe-in for basically an Eevee's tail and boy howdy, that would be a chore to brush out the tangles!