The Tailbone Is Not a Tail!

Have you ever fallen down and slammed your tailbone? It can really hurt: you can’t sit, stand, or lie comfortably for a while. That’s because many of your important muscles are anchored to your tailbone, so when you fall on it, those muscles get sore.

But the tailbone, or coccyx, is often called a useless organ. Even the name “tailbone” suggests a time in our supposed evolutionary past when we had tails. But, as a fall will demonstrate, the tailbone isn’t useless! Not only do your muscles attach to the tailbone, they also form a net—it anchors your internal organs in place!

The idea of useless organs is, well, a useless idea that needs to be thrown away.

Dig Deeper

• Vestigial Organ Arguments: Useful or Unnecessary?
• Vestigial Structures—Leftover News