Why homo sapiens species abandoned their tails?

Answer 1

Technically, your question is not worded correctly which may represent a misunderstanding of evolution.

Also, humans are just another of the tailless apes along with chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orangs (known as great apes), and gibbons (known as lesser apes).

The latest common ancestor of these lived perhaps about 12 million years ago. These in turn split off from what are gibbons today perhaps 16 million years ago.

The common ancestor of humans and gibbons evolved from tailed primates even earlier, perhaps 20 million years ago.

The reason that apes do not have tails (technically, we do have a vestigial tail called the coccyx) is because it no longer conferred a selective advantage for apes and perhaps was selectively disadvantageous.

All characteristics - whether it is eyesight, speed, tails or intelligence - have evolutionary costs. If a characteristic does not confer selective advantage, those costs can be diverted to other characteristics that do.

Thus, bats that fly at night, typically have very poor eyesight (or outright blind) and rather "see" their prey by sonar. Owls, on the other hand, have developed eyes that work well in low-light. There is more than one way to skin an evolutionary cat.

Answer 2

gebobs is correct. It is not just humans who "abandoned their tails", but the entire ape branch of the primates (which includes chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orang utans, many species of gibbons ... and, yes, humans).

Because so many species, that are all so closely related genetically, and through anatomical and fossil evidence to be along the same line ... all are tailless, the answer is as simple as the fact that the entire ape-line evolved from a single tailless species (called Proconsul) that split off from the primates (from the other branch that went on to become the modern monkeys).

In other words, in that one species, a tail was not only unnecessary, but shifted the weight balance in a way that was disadvantageous in that primate's way of moving. (See source, and search for "tail-loss.")

Answer 3

Homo sapiens never had tails. You have to go back one or two million years for tails.

Answer 4

Tails are mostly used for balance. They became to large to use them for clasping onto things.

Answer 5

Unless you become a demon later in life.

Answer 6

Once we went upright (walking on 2 feet) we didn't really need them for balance...

Answer 7

wth?