by Shakie666 Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:09 am
WhatDoesThePendantDo? wrote:Neanderthals had larger brains than modern man.
Neanderthals were bigger then homo sapiens, meaning proportionally their brains were still smaller than ours (though only by a few percent. They were still more intelligent than we give them credit for).
Also reim the stegosaurus' second brain was really just a bundle of nerves. Though it was responsible for controlling the tail movements so I guess it could be considered a separate brain.
The oldest living thing on Earth today (discounting bacteria) is a quaking aspen tree called Pando, which can be found in Utah. Its estimated to be around 80,000 years old. What makes the tree so unique is that it has multiple trunks, that are all connected to a single root system. Each trunk only lasts about 100 years, but new ones are growing all the time, each with identical DNA and all part of the same organism. (I've seen Pando myself. Its quite funny really, on the surface it looks just like a forest of ordinary trees. You can't tell that they're all part of a single megatree).
Incidentally, forest fires are good for Pando, since the central root system is too far underground to be killed, while the fire kills off the competing conifers.