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.

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[–] 44 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I've never heard of the "second brain" thing

That doesn't make any sense

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It was a thing when I was a kid. The older you get the more of your basic education gets proved wrong.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    I mean, easy to believe. Our goddamn nervous system acts kinda like one. Hell, we have more and more proof our left and right halves of brain ain't actually the unified, but are basically two brains and personalities slapped together.

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