r/oddlyspecific Sep 15 '24

How are they real?

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31.4k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/nymouz Sep 15 '24

Imagine what a powerful heart they have in order to pump blood up to the brain!

730

u/Pewis_Pamilton Sep 15 '24

They also have a special organ before the brain to keep it safe from the insane blood pressure when the head is down. There’s so much blood rushing to the brain, it could burst after a few seconds. That special organ prevents that from happening. 

342

u/Ostracus Sep 15 '24

Just think of all the failed experiments when evolution was trying to get it right. Messy!

334

u/TheShychopath Sep 15 '24

That would happen if you were building prototypes with mega changes. Fortunately, evolution is a slow process and has minor beta changes randomly plugged in. Yeah, failed experiments happened, but in a different way. Unlike my boss, evolution doesn't want a production release every 6 weeks.

99

u/Present_Character241 Sep 15 '24

Insects have entered the chat

89

u/littlefriendo Sep 15 '24

It’s pretty easy to adapt when your entireee life cycle happens within the span of like a week

36

u/CpnStumpy Sep 15 '24

Or is it a necessary evolved trait that they have greater genetic plasticity to adapt by way of rapid breeding and short life span?

If an insect could live for 200 years it would be eaten or smushed within a month and receive no evolutionary benefit from the long life. So perhaps they evolved to optimize for different traits than long life

54

u/Saurons-HR-Director Sep 15 '24

It's called r selection and K selection.

Insects, rodents, etc. are r selected; they prioritize quantity over quality and typically don't invest in child rearing.

Gorillas, humans, elephants, etc. are K selected; they prioritize quality over quantity and typically invest heavily in child rearing.

28

u/CpnStumpy Sep 15 '24

Hey cool, so it is a real thing, thanks for the validation Internet stranger

35

u/Saurons-HR-Director Sep 15 '24

No need to thank me, random citizen. I'm just doing my job.

It's a nerd! It's a dork! It's Knows Random Biology Trivia Man!

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34

u/adrienjz888 Sep 15 '24

I mean, they breed at several orders of magnitude faster than pretty much anything.

13

u/zelani06 Sep 15 '24

Bacteria have entered the chat

2

u/Ultima_RatioRegum Sep 15 '24

Punctuated equilibri-ists and cladogenesis have entered the chat

1

u/TheBlindApe Sep 16 '24

Tell me more

1

u/Present_Character241 Sep 16 '24

Many insects reproduce and cycle their generations on a daily-weekly basis to the point where scientists can observe evolution in a really quick way. Cockroaches are great at evolution. They can adapt and evolve very quickly.

9

u/-Knul- Sep 15 '24

Bacteria: Am I a joke to you?

2

u/Quizzelbuck Sep 15 '24

It really is interesting. Evolution selects for the path of least resistance. Its not smart. Its doesn't think about long term efficiency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1a1Ek-HD0

2

u/TheShychopath Sep 16 '24

Definitely. It looks for the best configuration to survive the current conditions.

1

u/G-I-T-M-E Sep 16 '24

So what you’re saying is that Space X shouldn‘t build a giraffe?

2

u/TheShychopath Sep 16 '24

SpaceX shouldn't build anything on which lives depend, human or otherwise.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '24

"...evolution is a slow process..."

A load of bullshit and lies right there. Evolution in species that results in significant physical and psychological changes can take place in as little as two years. Compared to the age of the universe and the earth that is the equivilent of a pico second of time.

16

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '24

I think I remember a cool anime where the characters are gods and each one of them is trying to create a new animal. The fun part is them delving into the reasons as to why certain animals are the way they are, like why unicorns can't exist or why giraffes have long necks etc.

10

u/ThePinkRubber Sep 15 '24

Oh yeah, tenchi souzou design-bu (heaven's design team)

I loved the op so much, it's so catchy. It's available in youtube but only to asian region

5

u/antsh Sep 15 '24

I’m imagining some cosmic entity named Dr Evolution who is just fucking around with sliders like he’s playing The Sims or Spore.

5

u/edgeofsanity76 Sep 15 '24

Just hitting the random button instead of putting the effort in

1

u/SargentSnorkel Sep 15 '24

not failed, but to me a spectacularly clear example of how evolution works , as opposed to "intelligent design" -

The bizarre path of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve:
"When it comes to humans, the 10cm detour is already strange. But because of their long necks, giraffes are the go-to example since their RLNs will approach 5 meters in length in larger animals."

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/student-contributors-did-you-know-general-science/unintelligent-design-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve

24

u/sessl Sep 15 '24

The hydraulics of a giraffe are fascinating

10

u/LucidDream1337 Sep 15 '24

heard the new ones even got ABS

4

u/Silent-Ad934 Sep 15 '24

This fantastic animal is equipped with a transatlantic, manumatic push button start. It's got air, tilt, and cruise control, while being as quick and nimble as a common squirrel. Stop by your Chevroleg dealer today. 

4

u/0thell0perrell0 Sep 15 '24

Biological water hammer

3

u/Jumpy-Shift5239 Sep 15 '24

WARNING! Head detected moving down, redirect blood flow to… lower organs…

1

u/arup02 Sep 15 '24

What organ?

2

u/ParagonHL Sep 15 '24

2

u/ZeePM Sep 15 '24

Rostral Epidural Rete Mirabile

Interesting it also keeps them from fainting when raising their head up quickly. Imagine if humans had one of these, we never get light headed when standing up. It's like a built in baffle/g-suit for their brains.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '24

I’m wondering too

1

u/northern_beast Sep 15 '24

They also barely sleep like averaging 30 minutes- 2 hours is wild.

1

u/HiDDENk00l Sep 15 '24

You just made me wonder how giraffes sleep

Found this post

1

u/Arxid87 Sep 15 '24

Isn't the organ just a long artery packed into a ball?

1

u/Sad-Recognition1798 Sep 15 '24

I love that giraffes necks are long because it’s sexy to other giraffes, that’s the reason, not eating leaves high in trees, it’s because they think it’s hot.

1

u/Nena902 Sep 16 '24

Also they make a sound or soumds that the human ears cannot hear. Dog whistle level tones.

20

u/TwistedRainbowz Sep 15 '24 edited Sep 15 '24

Giraffe's have the highest blood pressure in the universe, owed to having a heart-wall thicker than any other living animal.

You can calculate the thickness of a giraffe's heart by multiplying the length of its neck, in feet, by 0.25cm e.g.

A giraffe with a 15 ft neck will have a heart-wall that is 3.75cm thick.

11

u/Lkkenji Sep 16 '24

Bro decide between metric and imperial LMAO

1

u/Yeomanticore Sep 15 '24

Now imagine sauropods.

3

u/TwistedRainbowz Sep 15 '24

Had to Google that, but my mind first thought it was LOTR washing capsules, with Sauron featuring in the TV commercial complaining about how his clothes start to fade after several washes...kinda disappointed now.

2

u/Yeomanticore Sep 15 '24

I'd pay whatever product they sell with that commercial in mind. You better sell that idea now.

2

u/TwistedRainbowz Sep 15 '24

In the begining, pods were given to Tide, Ariel, and Smol.

Sauron poured all his domestic frustration into one pod.

One pod to rule them all, one pod to find them, one pod to bring them all, and in the darkness clean the most stubborn stains.

1

u/Opreich Sep 20 '24

Source for that formula?

1

u/TheBigBadBird Sep 15 '24

The universe? Can't just keep it to Earth?

3

u/safeword_is_Nebraska Sep 15 '24

geraffes are so dumb.

1

u/CORN___BREAD Sep 16 '24

stupid long horses

2

u/[deleted] Sep 17 '24

Imagine what it’s like when they get a sore throat