acaudate
adj.adj. having no tail. You use this to describe animals or parts of plants that have lost their tails or never developed them.
adj. lacking a tail or caudal appendage. Often used in biological contexts to describe the morphology of specific species or plant structures.
The acaudate fish swims differently from its relatives.
The researcher noted that the acaudate specimen was a rare mutation of the usual species.
In some evolutionary lineages, the transition to an acaudate form is associated with a shift in locomotion from swimming to more terrestrial movement.
From a- (“without”) + caudate (“having a tail”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated May 26, 2026