pseudotail

English

Alternative forms

• pseudo-tail

Etymology

pseudo- +‎ tail

Noun

pseudotail (plural pseudotails)

1. An appendage that is similar to a tail in location and gross appearance but which lacks some of the features of a true tail.
   • 2002, Jay M. Savage, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica, →ISBN, page 115:

     A number of species, however, have a pseudotail consisting of a few postcloacal vertebrae, but annulation is incomplete and a terminal shield is consistently present.

   • 2012, Issues in Life Sciences: Zoology, →ISBN:

     The spermatozoon of Saduria entomon is long and bent, resembling a whip. It consists of a very long pseudotail (1.86 mm long), which lacks an axoneme, and an extended head (112 pm long) that hangs down at an acute angle,” scientists in Poznan, Poland report.

   • 2014, Lawrence F. Eichenfield, Ilona J. Frieden, Andrea Zaenglein, Neonatal and Infant Dermatology, →ISBN:

     A true human tail (persistent vestigial tail) is rare and is differentiated from a pseudotail and an acrochordon by the presence of a central core of mature fatty tissue, small blood vessels, bundles of muscle fibers, and nerve fibers.

Anagrams

• dipetalous