Just a little doodle.
I’ve talked in the past about how Ziyal emulates Bajorans even to the detriment of her long-term health. Bajorans are bipedal and they’re built to be bipedal. Even though Cardassians can walk on two legs for the first part of their lives, they are quadrupedal.
In red; a Cardassian doing an ordinary Cardassian-bipedal walk. It is birdlike, and the tail is raised as a counterbalance to their heavy bodies. The forelimbs are always poised ready to resume quadrupedal motion.
In black: Ziyal, emulating Bajoran walking (which is near identical to human walking). Her tail tends to drag on the ground since it can’t be raised any higher at the pelvis than it already is. It still balances her however, since her legs alone cannot sustain her weight for very long with this posture, so her tail takes some of the strain. The posture also forces her stomach out, and possibly puts a lot of pressure on her insides. However, she would rather face the health risks for as long as she can remain bipedal, in order to be closer to the Bajorans she relates so much to.