A rare two-headed diamondback terrapin turtle with six legs was born?at the Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center in Massachusetts, US, two weeks ago.?
The turtle whose species is threatened in Massachusetts, is feeding on blood worms and food pellets, The Washington Post reported.?
As per the experts at the New England Wildlife Center, the turtle is similar to conjoined human twins in that they share parts of the body, but also have others that are independent. Fascinatingly,?its heads work separately to come to the surface to breathe.
The turtle also has two spines that fuse together at one point, and each side of the turtle has control of three of the legs, USA Today reported.?
On the wildlife center's Facebook page, it explained that bicephaly ¡ª having two heads ¡ª "is a rare anomaly that can occur from both genetic and environmental factors that influence an embryo during development."??
"Similar to conjoined twins in human they share parts of their body but also have some parts that are independent," staff wrote. "In this case 'they' have two heads and six legs. On admission both sides were very alert and active and our veterinary team was eager to learn more about them."??
While animals with bicephaly don't always survive, staffers said "these two have given us reason to be optimistic!"??
The centre is going to continue to monitor the young turtle to make sure they have control of their legs and can coordinate swimming to breathe properly.
After four weeks, it plans to carry out a CT scan to delve deeper into how the reptiles brains really operate.