why do animals have tails?

Answer 1

Depends upon the animal. And this is not so much why they have tails but what they can do with them.

Most people (who don't have tails) know about the use of tails to help balance a moving animal.

A scorpion uses its tail for a weapon. Many animals also have stingers or barbed devices in their tails.

Tails in birds are used for flight control and in breeding rituals.

Many animals use their tails for communication or expression, even the common house cat (which can "brush" or "poof up" its tail when aggravated).

Many aquatic and marine animals and fish use their tails for propulsion. This includes immature forms like tadpoles and polliwogs.

Some land animals, especially climbers use their tail like an extra hand to grasp limbs. This is especially true for primates which have tails.

Tails can be used for support (like a resting kangaroo).

Rattlesnakes, which have a rattle at the tip of its tail, uses its tail to produce a warning sound.

Cattle and horses (and many similar wildlife) use their tails to swat flys and pests.

Beavers and others use their tails to help pack mud when building. (These are also used for swimming).

The Texas antelope squirrel is a common diurnal or daytime animal. It uses its white tail as an umbrella to help reflect sunlight away from its body to stay cool.

Most penguins use their tails to keep their posteriors off the ice (to help keep warm).

If you include insects as animals, then you can add the lightening bug (for communication), wasps (for egg placement), bees (sting and directional dances) and more.

I am sure I have not gotten to the end of this but you get the idea.

Answer 2

You've gotten several good answers that tell you what animals use their tails for. But, as other Answerer pointed out, that is not the reason why they have them.

Why do I say this? Because living beings, and the parts/traits of living beings, don't evolve _because_ they are needed _for_ a function or purpose (evolution does not "plan ahead" or have a final goal). Once a trait acquires a function, though, this use can be enhanced by means of natural selection, and result in specific adaptations.

Take vertebrates, for instance. We all have tails, at least while we're tiny embryos. And we have a tail because we inherited it from our common ancestor, a worm-like animal with a supportive notochord, a perforated pharynx, and a tail!
The variety of functions that the tail may perform is amazing, from representing a 5th "arm" for some arboreal mammals like the spider monkeys, to becoming an "antenna" for some subterranean rodents that use their tails as a feeler while they move in their burrows. All these are made possible because of our evolutionary history.
And in other groups of animals, the tail has different origins, structure and purposes too. To understand the "why", you have to look at their evolution :)

Answer 3

It really depends on the type of animal:

-Marine animals use them for propelling themselves through the water to find food, escape from predators, etc. (fish, sharks, etc.)

-Most land-based animals use them for balance and even some for grasping (monkeys). Balancing is made by the tail by some animals like birds when they fly. This helps them control where they fly and how they land, take-off.

-Most mammels use tails as a sign of emotion or social warning. (deers use them to warn others that an approaching predator is coming) (Dogs use theirs to express emotion when they're happy, sad, scared, etc.) Its just natural.

-Some animals even use them for safety purposes. Scorpions use theirs as a safety mechanism to protect themselves. Others use them as a way of escaping. Lizards use them to tear off and escape while the predator is holding on to their old one.

These are just a few examples. There are many more but I think these are a few examples of the basic concept of tails. =)

Answer 4

There are a lot of reasons...

1. To help them move around. Like monkeys, they use their tail to move from tree to tree and to fix in a tree branch.
2. To communicate and show emotions. Like in cats and dogs, they move around their tails when they are happy. When a cat
is angry, its tail waves back and forth very fast.
4. To keep their balance.
5. To protect themselves. In big animals they use their tails to help them to get rid of insects, waving them away.
6. To help their body to be kept warm.
7. To help them move. Like animals that live in waters, tails permit them to move very fast to the direction they choose.

Answer 5

Locomotion, balance, display(for mating or intimidation), protection, communication and probably some other reasons...it all depends on the kind of animal you're talking about.

Answer 6

Balance, defense against predators, warmth, dexterity (some use their tails to hang, swing, and get around), mating, communication (erect tail - danger,etc).

Answer 7

not all animals have tails. but the ones that do sure are cute.

Answer 8

it helps with balance. and monkeys can hang on to things.and other animals like a cow swat flys and other bugs away.

Answer 9

It helps keep them balanced

Answer 10

So we can envy them and so they can balance and hold on to
things.