A rare two-headed, six-legged diamondback turtle turned two weeks old. The animal is located at the Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center in Massachusetts. It will remain in place to be studied.
The diamondback turtle is a threatened species in the state, and this two-headed specimen is feeding well on worms and prepared food, according to what the center staff said. The two heads of the animal operate independently, coming up for air at different times. Inside its shell are two digestive systems to feed both sides of its body.
The turtle originally came from a nest in West Barnstable that researchers determined was a dangerous location and needed to be moved.
After hatching, the turtles from these nests are sent to different care centers to be monitored before their release in the spring, according to The Cape Cod Times.
Pria Patel, the center’s veterinarian, and other staff members will continue to monitor the two-headed turtle, which they nicknamed Mary-Kate and Ashley, after the famous Olsen twins. They hope to perform a CT scan to learn more about his circulatory system.
According to the Cape Wildlife Center, turtles suffer from an abnormality that can be caused by genetic or environmental factors and is known as bicephaly. This condition occurs during embryo development. At the same time, it was confirmed that it is a case that, although it is not very common, some with similar characteristics have already been recorded.
Through a statement published on the center’s Facebook profile, they stated: “Like conjoined twins in humans, these turtles share parts of their body but also have some parts that are independent.”
They also made reference to the low life expectancy that such a specimen has, although they were surprised by what happened in this case: “They do not always survive for a long time nor do they have a good quality of life, but these two gave us reasons to be optimistic!”
A two-headed turtle went viral on TikTok
Shortly after the news broke, a video with images of another two-headed turtle went viral. Although the images seem taken from a science fiction movie, it is a specimen similar to the one in Massachusetts.
The footage that went viral shows the two-headed creature living in the same shell. In fact, in the video posted on the social network by the user @joulgmz, you can see how they bite and even fight each other.
