The Tailbone—It’s Not a Tail

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Have you ever fallen on your tailbone? It hurts horribly and 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, all of those muscles get sore.

But the tailbone is often called a useless organ. Even the name “tailbone” suggests a time in our supposed evolution when we had tails. But, as a fall will demonstrate, the tailbone isn’t useless! Not only does it give your muscles somewhere to attach, they form a net to anchor your internal organs in place!

The idea of useless organs is not true.

Dig Deeper

• The Human Tail and Other Tales of Evolution
• Why Do Men Have Nipples?