So I built a stegosaurus model kit, which included some factoids in the instructions. One of these factoids was that stegosaurs are not believed to have had a secondary brain in the hips to help them control their rear half after all. That was wild to me, since the whole stegosaurs and sauropods with their tiny heads needing a secondary brain for their huge bodies was commonly accepted back when I was a kid. So I looked it up, and indeed, the current hypothesis is that the cavity that the second brain was thought to occupy is used for a thing called a glycogen body. But what exactly does a glycogen body do? We’ll get back to you on that, apparently.

  • ninjakttty
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    22 days ago

    I remember being told in school that Brontosaurus had a second brain because they were so big it would take to long for the impulses from their head to go to their tail.

    • Baggie@lemmy.zip
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      22 days ago

      Giraffes elephants and whales might have something to say there but frankly we’ve thought weirder stuff.

      • squaresinger
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        22 days ago

        Or whales. They are even bigger with no secondary brain in sight.