Why are mammalian tails thin and short? | Differences in design philosophy from dinosaurs: Are mammals a biological version of fly-by-wire!?

Introduction

One of the most prominent and significant features of dinosaurs is their thick, impressive tails.
On the other hand, if you look at the tails of modern land mammals, many appear puny compared to those of dinosaurs, and they often give the impression that the overall body balance is somewhat poor.
For example, even in giraffes and rhinoceroses, despite their massive bodies, their tails are small and thin, shaped like flyswatters for shooing away insects.
Why don't mammals have impressive tails like dinosaurs?

As I investigated, I found that behind the difference in tails between dinosaurs and mammals lies a fundamental difference in their body design philosophies.
In this article, I would like to delve into those differences.

Dinosaur Design Philosophy | Emphasis on Structural Stability

Dinosaurs were designed with an emphasis onensuring stability through the skeletal structure itself.
The rigidity of the spine was high, and key areas such as the shoulders and pelvis were firmly connected to the spine, which is considered to be a design thatincreases the rigidity of the entire body even at the expense of range of motion.

Because of this body mechanism, they were not good at performing real-time balance correction like the mammals described later, and they needed to bestructurally balanced by designin advance.
Here, the tail played an important role as a device for balance control. The dinosaur's tail acted as acounterweightto the front part of the torso and was an essential part for maintaining balance of the center of gravity during movement.

Mammalian Design Philosophy | Emphasis on Mobility through Control

On the other hand, in contrast to dinosaurs, mammals evolved in a direction thatdoes not rely on the structure itself, but ensures stability through flexibility and control.
For example, the spine, shoulder blades, and pelvis have high flexibility and mobility, and are structuredwith the premise that the whole body will move.
Compared to therigidstructure of dinosaurs, mammals aresquishy.

What supports this structurally unstable body isreal-time coordinated control by muscles and nerves.
As a result of adopting a flexible movement strategy of balancing while moving and instantly correcting posture, mammals gainedhigh mobility.

And as a result of evolving the ability to control their own bodies with muscle power, many speciesno longer needed structural balance assistance from a tail.

・Mammals are a biological version of fly-by-wire

This mechanism of mammalian movement control has something in common with the design philosophy of modern fighter jets.
Modern fighter jets like the F-16, F-22, and F-35 are intentionally designed to be aerodynamically unstable. This is because the more unstable they are, the more rapid the aircraft's maneuvers can be.
However, such aircraft are too unstable to be flown properly by human hands, so they achieve both stability and high maneuverability through a real-time electronic control system called fly-by-wire.

This mechanism has something in common with the mammalian design philosophy of reducing reliance on structural stability and generating high mobility through coordinated control of muscles and nerves. Mammals can truly be calleda biological version of fly-by-wire.

Summary

From the difference in tails between dinosaurs and mammals, the following differences in their design philosophies have become apparent.

• Dinosaurs: Emphasis on stability through sturdy skeletal structure

• Mammals: Emphasis on mobility through flexible skeletal structure and body control functions

While dinosaurs emphasizeda solid balance design, it could be said that mammals shifted to brute force throughmuscle-driven power.

Our everyday casual movements and the complex motions of athletes are realized by the muscles of the entire body working together to control posture and force in real time.
We humans are also truly benefiting from being a "biological version of fly-by-wire."

Note: Please be aware that what is stated here is merely a general basic design story of dinosaurs and land mammals, and there are exceptions.

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