Why cats have tails? What are their tails for?

It looks like an obvious answer. But to me, it isn't.

Long ago people believe that tails help to cats's momentum (four-paws fall, in fact is not  falling in four paws only why cats are not injured, but there is a lot of other mechanisms involved - but anyway). Not true.

Some say tails are used in communication. I do not think so. Why a cat shall tell to another cat he/she is nervous or anxious or whatever?! Cats have no jobs, no boss,  no wives or husbands - so why waving tail in vain?! Not substantiated.

Some other say tails are used in equilibrium while running. Why is so, if the major share of the cat's diet is... bird (cats do not fly in following birds, and even so, tail wont help) rats (rats are not deer to run and run and run; they just hide themselves). No obvious reason.

Some other say tails are for  .. discharging electostatics. Well, I can believe if I see measurements. But I never saw such measurements. Not documented.

Then, why then cats have tails?

Solomonar said:

It looks like an obvious answer. But to me, it isn't.

Long ago people believe that tails help to cats's momentum (four-paws fall, in fact is not  falling in four paws only why cats are not injured, but there is a lot of other mechanisms involved - but anyway). Not true.

Some say tails are used in communication. I do not think so. Why a cat shall tell to another cat he/she is nervous or anxious or whatever?! Cats have no jobs, no boss,  no wives or husbands - so why waving tail in vain?! Not substantiated.

Some other say tails are used in equilibrium while running. Why is so, if the major share of the cat's diet is... bird (cats do not fly in following birds, and even so, tail wont help) rats (rats are not deer to run and run and run; they just hide themselves). No obvious reason.

Some other say tails are for  .. discharging electostatics. Well, I can believe if I see measurements. But I never saw such measurements. Not documented.

Then, why then cats have tails?

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The prime purpose of a cat's tail is for balance when it runs and jumps. It moves its tail constanly to keep itself upright in the air when jumping or on rough ground. Cats in the wild chase small prey on the ground as much as anything in the air. and they climb trees and use their tails to keep balance in ways we cannot imagine, not having one. And communication using the tail is very important. Cats do have worries - primarily they are territorial and they also compete for food and mates. So a tail can be used to tell other cats to go away, to threaten them, to protect territory or mating rights. Another cat can tell immediately if it is safe to approach by observing the position of the tail. along with other signs of the ears and whiskers. I agree that electrostatics is probably rubbish.

Some of the most rapid animals on Earth do not have tails: rabbits. Some rapid animals have tails that are not useful while running: antilope, lion. Some have no tail, although live in tree: chimp.Some have very heavy heads, making the tail almost not usable. It comes to the conclusion that tail is not really needed in maintaining equilibrium while running.

http://www.conservationinstitute.org/10-fastest-animals-on-earth/

With respect to jumping - jumping is the opposite of falling. Since cats do not need tail to maintain equilibrium when falling, why should have need tail while jumping?

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Supposing a cat is nervous, his tail will send this signal to other cats. So what? If I would be a cat trying to enter a competitor territory, I would do it no matter what the tail of the competitor is telling me.

I agree that certain signals in the animal world may tell competitors that "I am stronger than you are, keep away", but this is certainly not the case of a cat.

The cats will fight anyway for mating, a certain pose of tail will not affect the desire to mate.

Animals have evolved to face the challenges of their environment in different ways. Rabbits may move fast - they hop, don't run, and do not need to walk and run along narrow places. Cats do use their tails when both falling and jumping - they use them to keep upright, although falling is probably less of a need than jumping or climbing. Chimps use their hands and prehensile fingers when climbing or jumping to hang on - they do it in a completely different manner to a cat. Every animal, wherever itlives,m has developed in a different way to face its own particular challenges, though these may be similar or overlap with those of other animals. Otherwise all aniimals would look alike.

And as for communication - does a bird's plumage really protect it from a rival? But most males use their plumage to attract a mate. The peacock uses its splendid tail to show off to females and threaten males but would it protect it in a real fight? Most animals try to avoid fighting - it is all posturing, and size of tail or bright colour can all be part of that. It is the same with cats - they use their tails to show their mood and hope that those they meet will take them at face value. One thing animals do not do is deliberately pretend - a cat will never blink at you in a friendly way and then rip you to shreds - it gives you the right signs first and you ignore them at your peril. Unlike humans, who can smile at you as they stab you.

Originally Posted by Solomonar  

Cats have no jobs, no boss,  no wives or husbands

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With all due respect, you're beginning a scientific examination prejudicing the facts (and therefor the results) with assumptions.  Spend thirty, forty, fifty years observing (casually and scientifically) the social and societal interaction of a closed group of feral cats (not spayed and neutered domestic cats who lie about all day, sleeping their Lives away, but real cats, doing what real cats do, night and day); become a CFA Allbreed Judge, and observe the variances in social interaction behind the scenes between and among cats who do not know one another, and each of whose lifestyles are distinctly - drastically - different from feral cats and even from one another, and keep a comparative journal; translate those observations into an intersection of traits and habits to determine which are learnéd and which are instinctual, and then divide the learnéd traits into those habits acquired from other cats, and those from other companions - Humans, dogs, and cetera.

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1CatOverTheLine said:

 
With all due respect, you're beginning a scientific examination prejudicing the facts (and therefor the results) with assumptions.  Spend thirty, forty, fifty years observing (casually and scientifically) the social and societal interaction of a closed group of feral cats (not spayed and neutered domestic cats who lie about all day, sleeping their Lives away, but real cats, doing what real cats do, night and day); become a CFA Allbreed Judge, and observe the variances in social interaction behind the scenes between and among cats who do not know one another, and each of whose lifestyles are distinctly - drastically - different from feral cats and even from one another, and keep a comparative journal; translate those observations into an intersection of traits and habits to determine which are learnéd and which are instinctual, and then divide the learnéd traits into those habits acquired from other cats, and those from other companions - Humans, dogs, and cetera.

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Right.

But exactly the assumptions and approach you criticize ground the current explanations. What you said is true for the current explanations as well (the explanations I doubt). Are they "more" true just because they are more times repeated? There is no study to document why having a tail is useful while jumping, for instance. Only deductions. One may say "Cats defend their territory" - but you see, territory in the animal world is not like a country at least from the fact that reproduction range is one thing, feeding range is another and so on.    

Why people explaining reasons of tails in the common way have the right to make the assumptions by a considering that cats are humans - see the real meaning of "cats defending territory by signals" - while attempting to say cats are not humans is not acceptable?

What method is accepted for one side should be accepted for the opposite opinion as well.       

Solomonar said:

 
Right.

But exactly the assumptions and approach you criticize ground the current explanations. What you said is true for the current explanations as well (the explanations I doubt). Are they "more" true just because they are more times repeated? There is no study to document why having a tail is useful while jumping, for instance. Only deductions. One may say "Cats defend their territory" - but you see, territory in the animal world is not like a country at least from the fact that reproduction range is one thing, feeding range is another and so on.    

Why people explaining reasons of tails in the common way have the right to make the assumptions by a considering that cats are humans - see the real meaning of "cats defending territory by signals" - while attempting to say cats are not humans is not acceptable?

What method is accepted for one side should be accepted for the opposite opinion as well.       

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It certainly wasn't my intent to criticise the scientific methodology of others, and I apologise if it seemed so.  I should have added the caveat that it was strictly my personal opinion that the deduction that cats do not have jobs nor mates didn't agree with my own limited amateurish casual observance.

I've no doubt that you're correct about their territoriality being non-specific as well.  Cats don't actually mark their territory in the wold; it that correct?

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Well, we debate a subject, so it is quite natural to criticize opinions. :-) I see no problem in this.

I just pointed the rhetoric aspect concerning the need to keep the homogeneity of the accepted methods in debate. On other words, a background opinion, nothing else.

Lets be honest with us and recognize that there is very little science in whatever opinion. Including mine, of course. Etology as such is a very incipient science. The same with biomechatronics. So we have very little to ground the inferences.

Please, please,  continue to question, I really love it.  

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Reverting to the deep meaning of your lines (please correct me if I got it wrong): cats do have a social life that require communication, thus tails play a social role.

I may agree with the first sentence - taking "social" in the human meaning (not "social" as say- bees are). But my question is about order: are tails there because cats need to communicate somehow, or - beceause tails are there anyway (for some other reason) why not use them to communicate too?

All cats, domestic and large, DO mark their territory in terms of size and range. They then defend it. A large part of a cat's life is spent walking its boundaries and re-marking with urine to show other cats where it has been. Cats can learn to share territory, often by time markers. Studies done of domestic cats in an English village showed that every day the village cats retraced their steps around the same territory, marking as they went. Some cats had much larger territories than others. But the territories often coincided or overlapped when different cats visited at different times. And these times were consistent. So one cat would always mark at night, while another would visit during the day, ensuring they never met on the same territory. If by chance they do, then they will try to avoid a fight by displays of dominance, using vocal and physical threats with their bodies, fur and tails, and often one cat will submit and leave without it coming to fullscale claws and teeth. Many behavioural problems such as spraying in the house are rooted in the cat's need to mark its territory if it feels threatened in any way, or if some circumstance in its life has changed, so it feels the need to assert itself by such marking to show its property to others. We force our cats to live unnatural lives to keep them safe, and usually we can succeed in getting cats to live happily with us, a strange species, and often with other cats, but we have always to remember how they evolved and how they see the world if we are to ensure they are truly fulfilled in their new role as our companions.

OK @JennyR.

But, could the cat do the same without tails? Bears have far larger territories and have no tails. They mark etc.

The fact that a cat follow the same path everyday does not necessarily mean the mark their territory. The coyotes follow paths (coyote motor roads :-), but the paths does not mark boundaries of their territory. Me going same path from home to bus station every day does not mean I mark my territory to the bus :-).

Solomonar said:

 
Well, we debate a subject, so it is quite natural to criticize opinions. :-) I see no problem in this.

I just pointed the rhetoric aspect concerning the need to keep the homogeneity of the accepted methods in debate. On other words, a background opinion, nothing else.

Lets be honest with us and recognize that there is very little science in whatever opinion. Including mine, of course. Etology as such is a very incipient science. The same with biomechatronics. So we have very little to ground the inferences.

Please, please,  continue to question, I really love it.  

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Reverting to the deep meaning of your lines (please correct me if I got it wrong): cats do have a social life that require communication, thus tails play a social role.

I may agree with the first sentence - taking "social" in the human meaning (not "social" as say- bees are). But my question is about order: are tails there because cats need to communicate somehow, or - beceause tails are there anyway (for some other reason) why not use them to communicate too?

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I honestly believe that cats have tails simply to be thrashed in our faces as a method of awakening us - literally and figuratively - to the fact that it's breakfast time.



Have you observed any cats who've lost their tails to accidents?  Did they behave differently?  Did they approach long or high jumps with trepidation or with hesitancy?  Did they seem less secure overall, and did their initial interaction with "new" cats change at all?  Did their in-line balance seem altered when they traversed narrow fence-tops?

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Of course - the discussion has got a little off-topic. It concerns your later post - evolution usually does not concentrate on one feature at a time unless conditions are extreme. So a feature that is useful for one aspect of life helps with other things as well. and there are many cats who for one reason or another lack tails and still run and jump etc - they learn to compensate as a person does who loses a limb. But any sentient being will use all its attributes to its best ability in all aspects of its being, and this helps it survive and pass on its features to its offspring. That is evolution at work.

@1CatOverTheLine

There is even a cat breed  without tail!

Right, a cat loosing his/hers tail looses her/his confidence and equilibrium. But, that is because that cat used to have a tail. Or at least, this assumption is equally valid to the one a cat without tail would be less stable.

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Concerning the point the cat touches us by their tails in the morning - that is another very interesting question (and fun to tackle :-)) : why tail is so sensitive? When I touch my cat on his nose, he admit I am in a bad mood and as a good friend let me push his nose as much as I want. When I touch his tip of the tail - he starts meawing and even bites me!

@JennyR

In other words, a cat with tail and another one without tail, all others being equal: the most successful will pass his/her feature to the offspring, while the other one will not.

I agree tails must be useful for something. But question is for what?

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The first inference is not entirely true, since all creatures carry not useful genes, that is the way they can express individual variability. On other words we humans can develop tails at a certain point in the future, but we can do that because we have genes for tail development that do not express today.  

In evolutionary terms the ancestors of cats found a tail useful and so it developed into what our cats have today. In contrast, our ancestors found that tails were not useful to our way of life and development and therefore the tails that our even further back ancestors had were not part of the 'survival of the fittest' and were irrelevant to us and so were not part of the essential tools for survival. Other attributes, like bigger brains, eyes that faced forward, ability to stand erect so we could see further etc, were the things we needed and so those traits were gradually selected for in natural breeding and the genes for the tail got lost on the way. That is a very simple version of evolution, other factors, spontaneous mutation and even chance, are at work too, but it is the way it works.

Ok, but this just moves the question back in time, it does not answer it. Why the cat's ancestors needed tails?

The best explanation of how evolution is a mix of utility, chance, mutation and environment that I have ever read is Stephen Jay Gould, whose natural history books are perfect science for the layman. His 'The Science of Life' is a good introduction and takes in how chance attributes become useful and get written into the genetic code. He wrote with humour and knowledge, tempered with humility.

Well, theory is ok. Although subject of much debate.  

But question is why cats need tail?

You are asking the wrong question. It is not that they need them, it is that when the first animals came out of the sea (where all fish had tails) and began to walk on land, some of them continued to evolve with tails and some did not. They all developed according to what they needed to survive. If something was useful then the owner of it survived to have offspring, and so the gene was carried on. If not, it was not selected for and became redundant, often surviving as a rudimentary organ or appendage, like the human tailbone or the appendix. Eventually, for example, we got to a mammal that had better balance and could jump, because it had a kind of tail and those with the longest tail jumped farther and lived longer than those without. So the cat tail developed. But Gould says it all far better than I can.

Ok, lets ask in other way: what is the use of tail in cats?

Because we know that they use tail for something. We just do not know for what - see my original post.