A four-month-old girl has a 6-centimeter tail. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

A four-month-old girl received surgery to remove her 6-centimeter tail at a hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, earlier this month.

The girl, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of the Sun Yat-sen University, was born with the hairless, soft, pink tail, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Tuesday.

Spina bifida, a birth defect affecting the spinal column, can result from genetic or environmental factors. The tail may be related to the disease, although no previous clinical cases have been reported, Deng Xiaogeng, director of the pediatric surgery department of the hospital, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.