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Lemurs , lizards , whale — all are famed for their tails in some way . But which fauna has the longest tail of all ?
In proportionality to their body , grass lizard have the long tails of any known living animate being . The tails of these small , lightweight lizard are two to three time the length of their torsos , Tommy Owens , a handler in the section of birds and ectotherms ( cold - blooded beast ) at the Dallas Zoo , told Live Science . For instance , long - tailed grass lizard ( Takydromus sexlineatus ) , a member of this menage , can rise up to 1 foot ( 30 centimeters ) long , but their torso are only 2 to 3 inch ( 5 to 8 cm ) long — the rest is all backside .
Grass lizards have the longest tails in proportion to their body.
The lizards , which arenative to Southeast Asia , China and southerly Russia , expend their long tails to balance on tall locoweed blade or on tree branch . " You could think of it as the long irradiation that people walking across a tightrope would impart , " Owens said . " They can apply it when they leap from tree branch to limb for stability . But they can also move from a higher branch to a lower limb by haul that long stern across the upper limb and lowering themselves slowly to a depressed limb . "
Using their tails to slide through trees also help grass lizards keep off predators , Owens said . But like many other lizards , Mary Jane lizards can detach their tails if a predator grabs hold . Losing their keister will them somewhat less quick , so the lounge lizard expend the next few month laying depleted while they regrow their tails , adhere to scant - distance foraging rather than range across their full territory .
In term of infrangible tail duration , fox shark shark take the bar , saidJay Bradley , curator of the Blue Wonders exhibits at the National Aquarium in Baltimore . Thresher sharks ( genusAlopias ) are migratory specie and habituate their tails primarily for actuation . But they also use the farsighted upper section of their arse fin , which can grow up to 10 feet ( 3 meters ) long , to hunt .
Grass lizards have the longest tails in proportion to their body.
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" Thresher sharks feed on school prey ( i.e. small fish , etc . ) . They drown through these lure ball and use their tails to stun their prey and then swim around to wipe out the immobilized fish,“Kady Lyons , a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium , told Live Science in an email .
— Which animal has the largest nous ?
Thresher sharks have the longest tails in terms of absolute length.
— Which animal has the largest ears ?
— Which animals have the prospicient arms ?
This hunting behaviour has only been document on TV within the last two X , Bradley said . " They swim up on a schooltime of Pisces the Fishes , and then they discontinue and put down their thoracic fins , " Bradley told Live Science . " Then their tail amount up over their head , and they kind of do this worst motion and basically stun small prey with a snappy action . "
An honorable mention in both " retentive tail " category goes to a phratry of stingrays known as whiptail lizard re , whose behind can be up to three sentence as long as their disc - form torso . investigator do n’t often measure the distance of the rays ' tails because predators can easily bite part of the tail off , Bradley said . But as an example , leopard whiptail rays ( Himantura leoparda ) can turn up to 4 base ( 1.2 m ) wide and 13 infantry ( 4 m ) long , including their tails , according to theSeattle Aquarium . The bottom - abode rays use their tail for stability when float and for defence ; when a vulture attack from above , the rays can whip their tails up and strike the hunter with a poisonous barb .
