The surprising discovery about the function of dog tails

In many animal species, the Tail It has a biomechanical function, contributing to the performance of maneuvers and movements. In certain circumstances, it acts as an anatomical aid and allows lizards and squirrels, for example, to straighten their positions when falling from trees, or to make movements that contribute to hunting, such as quick and sharp turns, accompanying prey. to me dogHowever, this logic doesn’t seem to apply, as they stay on the grounds and don’t have great climbing skills. To understand its function, a team of researchers from Max Planck Institute for Intelligent SystemsGive Germanydecided to investigate the function of the tail of dogs.

Researchers developed a Mathematical model Which made it possible to check what happens to the tails of dogs when they move or jump. The results indicate that there is Few mechanical functions in tails tails. Movements do not necessarily contribute to locomotion or facilitate movement in dogs, as they do in other animals. For example, flicking the tail while jumping changed the dogs trajectory by a fraction of a degree.

But they seem to have a more impactful function eg communication deviceBeing susceptible to external stimuli. The research seems to confirm what pet owners have known for some time: Through the frantic movement of their tails, pets Connect your state of mind.

In addition, dogs tail can help them to Pest Control. With the movement of their tails, the animals manage to drive away flies and other nuisances.

The results have been previously published in bioRxivan open repository of life science-related preprints, still pending peer review.