Why does the Manx cat have no tail?
The most common Manx cat legend says that the tail was lost because the cat was the late boarding the Ark. Noah accidentally slammed the door on the tail. In fact, the lack of a tail is a true genetic abnormality that was first observed in the 16th century. The tail mutation is a serious defect. There is a hollow in the Manx’s body where the tail should be. This distorts the rest of the spine so that the Manx has a backbone with fewer and shorter vertebrae. A true Manx is called a “Rumpy”; if he has a tiny tail, he’s a “Stumpy.” He is also called a “Bunny” because his strong back legs are longer than his front. As a result, he runs with a hop. Why is a cat’s tail so flexible? The cat’s tail contains between 14 and 28 caudal or tail vertebrae, linked like a string of beads. Even the tailless Manx has three tail vertebrae, even though flexibility isn’t the Manx’s strong points. Short of the short tail, a Manx looks like an ordinary cat. Why do cats have three eyelids? The third eyelid is
