WHAT GOOD IS A TAIL?

A reliable author/photographer team collaborates on another winning book -- somewhat easier to read than their Feathers (1992) -- with a lively text, appealing color photos, and intriguing science facts showing just how useful a tail can be. What is a tail? According to Patent, ""It's the part of the body that sticks out beyond the end of the digestive system."" It may aid balance and locomotion, as in the case of the opossum, sea horse, wallaby, shark, and squirrel; attract a mate or communicate, like the flashy white tuft of the deer, colorful peacock plumes, or the fancy rudder of a guppy; or discourage a predator -- think of the porcupine's prickly appendage, or the spiny-tailed dab lizard. Index.