Dear Tyler,

At the very bottom of the human spine is a bone that sticks out a bit called the coccyx (cox-ix). We sometimes call it the “tailbone,” but it is actually made up of several different spinal bones.

In some animals that actually have tails, those different bones at the bottom of the spine help them move their tail around. But in humans, those bones partially fused together.

You may already know a thing or two about the tailbone if you’ve ever hit a big bump while sledding or you’ve fallen on your behind. It can be pretty painful. You might have even thought … Continue reading Why do we have a tailbone?