Tail man
Tail people is an old name for people whose back end of the body has lengthened like a tail (as naturally found in some species of monkeys ) and protrudes over the buttocks.
Reports of truant people
In ancient times it was generally believed that there were truant people. It was assumed that not only isolated individuals, but entire peoples had tails. Ktesias described an allegedly tailed Calystrier people in India . According to Pliny , people with long hairy tails live on Ceylon ( Naturalis historia vol. 30). Other ancient reports concern peoples in the interior of Africa , the population on three rear Indian islands and on an island west of Sicily .
In the Middle Ages, such stories were widespread, in part, they went without reflection on the contemporary scientific literature. Marco Polo ( Reisen , 1300) claims to have seen such people in Lambri (possibly Sumatra ). Christopher Columbus mentioned in a letter from 1493 that he had been told about a Caribbean island called Avan , which was the home of tail people.
Travelers from the 18th and 19th centuries reported that people were truant, e. B. from a breed in the Philippines called Manghian . The reports are mostly based on hearsay. It is also possible that the observers mistook parts of the local people's costume for real tails. The Niam-Niam warriors adorn themselves with animal tails, for example, the stout bongo women with tassels made of bast fibers. Reports of entire peoples who have tails are therefore to be referred to the realm of fable .
Tail formation is very rarely reported in modern scientific literature, in newborns of all ethnicities .
Biological causes
The "tails" do not form regular structures such as B. vertebrae, but they can contain adipose tissue, collagen and muscle fibers. There are fewer than 50 cases of so-called “real tails” described worldwide that do not belong to the simple tumors or to the known malformations in the context of dysraphias (congenital clefts in the spine).
The "real tails" are usually interpreted as malformations that can be traced back to mutations , i. H. teratoma-like congenital tissue proliferation. According to another theory, it can also be an incomplete regression of the tail, which is temporary during the embryonic phase , i.e. an atavism .
In the early phases of its development, the human embryo , like the other mammals , has a distinct but invertebrate tail, which can initially be quite considerable in length, but then regresses and already in the seventh week only a protrusion, the tail tubercle , forms, which rests tightly on the buttocks and is firmly attached to the body surface.
Treatment consists of a simple surgical removal as soon as further malformations such as B. Meningoceles are excluded.
A temporary tail-like hump formation also occurs in newborns when the tailbone vertebrae have grown excessively.
Reincarnation of the monkey god
In Hindu areas, children with appendages on their backs or rumps (for whatever reason) are sometimes revered as the reincarnation of the monkey god Hanuman and given gifts.
Media processing
The Italian film Klamotte When Women Had Tails ( Quando le donne avevano la coda , 1970, directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile) with Giuliano Gemma and Senta Berger processed ironically - slapstick the subject tail man . In the TV series "Ripper Street" in season 2 in the 2nd episode "Curse of the Blood", a pregnant woman with a tail on her spine appears.
literature
- Nandkisho S. Kabra, Ganesh Srinivasan, Rekha H. Udani: Case Report - True Tail in a Neonater . In: Indian Pediatrics . tape 36 , 1999, pp. 712-713 ( online ).
- Daniel J. Donovan, Robert C. Pedersen: Human Tail with Noncontiguous Intraspinal Lipoma and Spinal Cord Tethering: Case Report and Embryologic Discussion . In: Pediatric Neurosurgery . tape 41 , no. 1 , 2005, p. 35-40 , doi : 10.1159 / 000084863 .
supporting documents
- ^ Louis Lucas, The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 6 (1877) 191-4
- ^ The Letter of Columbus to Luis De Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery
- ↑ Georges Comte de Buffon: Barr's Buffon, Buffon's Natural History, Of the Varieties in the Human Species . Barr, London 1792
- ↑ A. Amirjamshidi, K. Abbassioun, M. Shirani Bidabadi: Skin-covered midline spinal anomalies: a report of four rare cases with a discussion on their genesis and milestones in surgical management . In: Child's Nervous System: ChNS: Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery . tape 22 , no. 5 , May 2006, pp. 460-465 , doi : 10.1007 / s00381-005-0014-2 .
- ↑ Jalees Andrabi: The holy tail. Growth lad, 12, hailed as god. In: The Sun. July 23, 2013, accessed July 26, 2013 .
- ↑ 12-Year-Old Indian Boy With A Tail Growing On His Back Hailed As God. In: The Inquisitr. July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013 .