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Thread ID: 86146	2008-01-06 01:31:00	Tails ...... Why have one?	beetle (243)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
627715	2008-01-07 18:03:00	though an interesting question is what do sheep use their tails for? sheep tails collect poo and cause all sorts of health issues, so why do they have them? farmers put a rubber band over them to remove them cheaply.... Exactly and you try to clean that mess ;) They put a rubber ring around them to cut off the circulation and then cut the tail off with a knife. (Grandfather is a farmer)	The_End_Of_Reality (334)
627716	2008-01-07 18:19:00	what do sheep use their tails for? sheep tails collect poo and cause all sorts of health issues, so why do they have them? Sheep aren't like they used to be before domestication either........most animals people keep get changed to suit our ideas.	pctek (84)
627717	2008-01-07 19:14:00	Sheep aren't like they used to be before domestication either........most animals people keep get changed to suit our ideas. very good point there - but raises another question of why we didn't breed shorter tails:lol:	motorbyclist (188)
627718	2008-01-07 19:27:00	I didnt specifically buy her for her breed or lack of tail . . i got her because she looked sad and lonely and cute . . . . and she had that special X factor that made me like her . . . She has a lovely nature, is placid, and cuddly . And ive been to 3 different SPCA places recently and yes there are a lot of kittens that need homes . . . . . . . 1 breeder . . . . and 3 pet shops . And trademe has an amazing amout of animals listed . . . . . . . . . But yes there are a lot of neglected animals out there, and need special homes . Badly treated, and breeders can be the worst . . . . . . beetle	beetle (243)
627719	2008-01-08 09:26:00	She's a Manx cat . Cats like her are specifically bred for their lack of tails . The absence of the tail is due to a pleiotropic mutation that affects the spine and ultimately the tail . So it's not that natural selection has selected against the tail - rather artificial selection promotes the increasing number of these tailless cats, whereas if left to nature alone, these cats may well be extinct . She's heterozygous - meaning she has one dominant allele and one recessive allele that results in an incomplete dominant trait in the cat - her lack of a tail . If both the dominant alleles were present, she'd be dead before she was born . It's a lethal allele that occurs in these cats . That is why many of these cats die in the womb . And this is also why you can never get pure-breeding Manx cat couples . The human genome has a few lethal alleles as well - and some serious hereditary diseases are caused by these lethal alleles . I think muscle dystrophy is one of them . Cats today probably don't need their tails today, but when they were still wild in ancient times, tails provided balance and acted as some sort of aerodynamic gizmo when catching prey in a speedy pursuit . Cheetahs today need their tails to run fast and catch their prey . Thanks for this, all I knew was that it is a Manx . Great thread by the way people - from a confirmed catlover . :D	Winston001 (3612)
627720	2008-01-08 09:34:00	Though an interesting question is what do sheep use their tails for? sheep tails collect poo and cause all sorts of health issues, so why do they have them? Farmers put a rubber band over them to remove them cheaply.... Funnily enough my children asked a similar question yesterday. I don't have a technical answer but the sheep we see today are hundreds of years removed from the ancient sheep of Spain and Portugal. Modern sheep are bred for long wool and meat, and fed on lush pasture = lush poo. Your primordial sheep however preferred to be skinny, bounced about on rocks with its cousins (goats) and only had enough wool to keep warm when the weather (or ewe) was a bit parky. Prime grazing was mountain scrub and tussock so the waste product tended to be of a firm consistancy. The tail wasn't a problem.	Winston001 (3612)
627721	2008-01-09 10:22:00	It is all pretty simple when it comes to cats and there appendage quota. Like custom cars, the extra flash ones are said to have been detailed.	R2x1 (4628)
627722	2008-01-13 09:37:00	Sheep use their tails as a fat reserve for leaner times. However, in modern agriculture, (usually) there are no lean times and a farmer would rather have that nutrient transfered to the body of the sheep, for which he gets paid. No one (or at least, not enough to make it economic) wants to but a large piece of sheep fat. It is the same concept as picking off rhubarb flowers to make the stalks grow more vigorously. Or pruning a plum tree to get larger fruit.	joemac (9739)
627723	2008-01-13 10:00:00	No one (or at least, not enough to make it economic) wants to but a large piece of sheep fat. but a lamb's fat is the best bit!:( (and it's more skin on which to grow wool too)	motorbyclist (188)
627724	2008-01-13 10:13:00	You eaten lambs tails? It aint that flash. A bit of gristle, encased in flem. YUM. That aside, Pity we don't have tails.	Metla (12)
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