The sickle tail is the single phenotypic characteristic that seems to separate dogs from wolves. Dogs who have tails tend to have an upward curve in the tail, which is called the sickle tail. Wolves' tails, on the other hand, hang straight; this is called the brush tail—similar to that of a fox.
Famous quotes containing the word tail:
“In fact, now I come to think of it, do we decide questions, at all? We decide answers, no doubt: but surely the questions decide us? It is the dog, you know, that wags the tail—not the tail that wags the dog.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)