Why do marine mammals sway their tails vertically, while fish sway them horizontally?
In: Biology
horizontal spine flexing is the original way all animals with spines moved. that’s causes a wriggle that allows fish to swim through water. then some fish went to land and developed limbs and an upright stance. Lizards, newts and salamanders still do the wriggle, but mammals run differently because their legs are directly unter the body. Their bodies don’t drag on the surface, their gait and limbs can be much larger and they can support more body weight that way. And the spine developed to flex vertically because that assists running as as extra joint that can contrac and extend, increasing opower and gait length. and when they went back into the water they kept it that way because it worked just fine.
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