Why do human embryos have tadpole-like tails?

We and the other great apes evolved from primates with tails, and we still begin to
develop a tail in our embryonic development.

For an interesting comparison, consider elephant evolution, which has left a robust
fossil record. Today’s African and Asian elephants evolved from ancestors that had
both upper (maxillary) and lower (mandibular) tusks—two pairs—like
Gomphotherium below and earlier genera. The lower tusks were lost over the
course of elephant evolution, but the genes for their development are still there.
Elephant fetuses even today begin to grow both pairs of tusks, but then as if saying
“Oops!,” they reabsorb the lower tusks and are born with only the uppers.

Pleistocene elephant Gomphotherium, fossil and artist’s conception.

Similarly, the fossil record shows us that baleen whales (like today’s blue whale)
evolved from toothed whales (the group to which today’s orcas, dolphins, and
sperm whales belong). Their fetal development tells the same story. The fetuses of
baleen whales begin to develop teeth and then—oops!—they reabsorb them and
grow baleen

Toothed and baleen whales

We know too that birds, which evolved from toothed theropod dinosaurs, still have
the genes for teeth. Experiments have shown that these genes can be induced to
make chicken embryos grow teeth (Mutant Chicken Grows Alligatorlike Teeth).

The same story appears repeatedly in animals, with embryology and paleontology
confirming each other’s conclusions. The embryonic human tail is just another
example of this.