659
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 68 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Nearly all tetrapods have a laryngeal nerve that goes from the brain stem to the larynx, but doesn't go straight for the few inches, instead travelling down the neck to go around the aortic arch above the heart. It's a throwback to when we were ocean dwelling and had gills much closer to the heart.

In giraffes this nerve takes a 15 ft detour.

In something like a brachiosaurus which had a neck around 30 ft long, this would be a 60ft detour.

A great proof of evolution, of making do with what is there and adapting.

[-] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 22 points 3 days ago

Brachiosaurus wasn’t a mammal.

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 55 points 3 days ago

Yes but a brachiosaurus is still a fish

[-] Klear@quokk.au 14 points 3 days ago

Hell yeah, fuck paraphyletic groups.

[-] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Correct. I'll change to Tetrapods.

[-] Photonic@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago

I wasn’t gonna say this but since you’re making changes anyway: the recurrent laryngeal nerve doesn’t go around the heart but around the aortic arch and the great arteries.

[-] Monument@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 3 days ago

Meh, I’ve seen better arteries.

this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
659 points (99.5% liked)

Science Memes

19671 readers
3759 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS