Two-headed tortoise found in South Africa

http://www.ananova.com ^ | Thursday 29th May 2003 | http://www.ananova.com

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Two-headed tortoise found in South Africa

A South African man has found a two-headed tortoise.

Noel Daniels, a welder of Wellington, says the under side of its shell is flat, instead of rounded.

"But the tortoise is normal and both heads feed on leaves, grass and softened rabbit pellets," he said.

"When the tortoise gets a fright, the heads each want to move in its own direction, and then the feet get all tangled up."

Mr Daniels is keeping the tortoise in his back yard, with seven orphaned tortoises who live with his budgies and pigeons in a dovecote.

Tortoise expert Dr Ernst Baard, of Cape Nature Conservation, says two-headed tortoises are most unusual.

He knows of only one other such tortoise. Dr Baard says the animal might be the product of a genetic deviation during the development of the embryo.

He believes the tortoise has a better chance of survival in Daniels's yard than in nature, saying: "With proper love and care its chances are not too bad, but I doubt if it will survive into adulthood."

[StatesEnemy]

Look at that... A Duplex!

[ErnBatavia]

looks too much like this:

[Consort]

Two heads are better.......

[BradyLS]

A tiny two-headed painted turtle found in the US made the news last week. It seems reptiles produce the most viable two-headed mutations.

[aSkeptic]

That is so cool :)

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

I found this one in my front yard in Las Vegas yesterday!

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

OOPS!

[putupon]

no creature with two brains (no matter how small), would be dumb enough to do something like that.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Damn .... I wondered where I left that thing.

[NovemberCharlie]

I remember a Life magazine article on a two-headed child.

[HennepinPrisoner]

Remember that two-faced baby kitten that some woman's cat had? What ever happened to it?

[NewRomeTacitus]

"...feed on leaves, grass and softened rabbit pellets,"

Sounds like the diet my doctor suggested.
South Africa regularly gets dosed with radiation when the ozone hole expands. Don't know about reptiles but amphibians all over the world are suffering higher rates of mutation.

[EGPWS]

"When the tortoise gets a fright, the heads each want to move in its own direction, and then the feet get all tangled up."

The tortoise must be a Democrat.

[Ichneumon]

I remember a Life magazine article on a two-headed child.

More accurately, two girls sharing one body:

More info, including a map of the complex layout of their internal organs, can be found here

The amazing thing about these girls is how healthy and functional they are. Although either girl can control their shared arms and legs, and can "fight" over the control if they choose, they can coordinate well enough to ride a bike, and even play baseball well. And one girl can choose to "hand" control over to the other. It's incredible.

[nothingnew]

Does it demand "Shhhrubbery" before anyone passes?

FMCDH

[gcruse]

I had never heard of the twins before. Thanks for posting.

[Ides of March]

I found this one in my front yard in Las Vegas yesterday!

A turtle with an ace up its sleeve, in Las Vegas?
I wish you had found one with lower resolution.

[NovemberCharlie]

That's the one I was thinking of. How old would they be now, about twelve?

[Ichneumon]

That's the one I was thinking of. How old would they be now, about twelve?

They were born in 1990 (I'm not sure which month), so yes, they would be 12 or 13 now.