The rump or croup, in the external morphology of an animal, is the portion of the posterior dorsum – that is, posterior to the loins and

anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

to the tail. Anatomically, the rump corresponds to the

sacrum The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...

. The tailhead or dock is the beginning of the tail, where the tail joins the rump. It is known also as the base or root of the tail, and corresponds to the human sacrococcygeal symphysis. In some

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s the tail may be said to consist of the tailbone (meaning the bony column, muscles, and skin) and the skirt (meaning the long hairs growing from the tailbone). In birds, similarly, the tail consists of tailbone and tailfan (tail fan). Some animals are subjected to docking, the

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

of the tailbone at or near the dock. These include dogs, cats, sheep, pigs, and horses. Humans have a remnant tail, the coccyx, and the human equivalent of docking is coccygectomy.

Usage

Usage varies from animal to animal. Birds and cattle are said to have a rump and tailhead. Dogs are said to have a rump and dock. Horses are said to have a croup"How do I...Identify Parts of the Horse" ''Arabian Horse Association''
croup) (sometimes rump), thigh or haunch, buttock, and dock.

Birds

In bird anatomy, the rump is the body immediately above the tail. The color of plumage on the rump is a characteristic widely used by

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

s to distinguish between related species, and sometimes also between males and females of the same species. Similarly, the silhouette of the tailfan is a characteristic widely used for purposes of identification, particularly in the field. Some birds have a food reservoir pouch in the esophagus that is known as a

croup Croup, also known as laryngotracheobronchitis, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms o ...

(or crop), which should not be confused with the croup (rump) of a horse.

Dogs

In some breeds it is traditional for tails to be cut off ( docked) at the dock.

Horses

In horse anatomy, the croup refers specifically to the topline of the horse's hindquarters and surrounding musculature, beginning at the hip, extending proximate to the

sacral vertebrae The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...

and stopping at the dock of the tail (where the coccygeal vertebrae begin). Below the croup is the thigh or haunch. Behind the thigh is the buttock. On horses appearing in

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

s and other public ceremonies, the croup may be decorated with a pattern in the horse's hair, formed by applying hair gel or spray, then brushing patches of hair in opposite directions. Applied to horses, the term "dock" has two additional uses. Its meaning may be extended to either the entire tail minus the skirt (i.e., synonymous with tailbone) or the tailhead only. In other equidae, it encompasses most of the tailbone, as most of that portion of the tail does not have long hairs. A lack of long hairs can be natural, as in zebras,

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

s, and the Przewalski horse, or artificial, the result of pulling, trimming, or shaving part of the skirt (see Horse grooming). A sponge used to wash the hairless skin on the underside of the dock and other regions under the tail, protected by the dock, is called a dock sponge. Thus, the meaning of "dock" has been used to refer to the orifices beneath the dock, specifically the

anus The anus (Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, the residual semi-solid waste that remains after food digestion, which, d ...

and vagina, creating a misapprehension that "dock" refers to the anus, as in, ''a horse's fundamental orifice is its dock''., page 49

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rump (Animal) Bird anatomy Dog anatomy Horse anatomy Mammal anatomy