Viral Video: Rare Two-headed Snake Discovered In South Africa
Animals that are born with two or more heads have a condition called polycephaly, which is more common in reptiles than in mammals.
Nature is beautiful and truly undiscovered even now with all the technology and knowledge. Now, a rare sight was seen in the depths of South Africa which definitely was fascinating.
Two-headed snake found in South Africa
An extremely rare snake with two heads was rescued in the jungles of South Africa. Snake rescuer Nick Evans shared photos of the two-headed Southern Brown Egg-eater - a harmless species of snake on his Facebook page. In the caption, he mentioned that he came across the snake when he was asked to collect the snake from a man who had found the slithering animal in his garden.
The man who found this snake in the garden didn't want anyone to harm the strange creature which is why he put it in a bottle and asked Mr Evans to take it away. He lives in Ndwedwe, a town north of Durban.
Nick Evans
"It was such a strange sight, seeing this deformed snake," said Evans in a Facebook post. "It's a juvenile, around [a foot] in length. It was quite interesting to see how it moved. Sometimes, the heads would try to go in opposite directions from one another, other times, it would rest one head on the other. That seemed the most effective way of moving."
The snake rescuer further informed that the reptile is now safely in professional care. Mr Evans was surprised that the reptile had even survived up to the point he found it. He said that there is ¡°no point¡± releasing the snake now. ¡°As far as I am aware, they don't generally live long. This one wouldn't last long at all in the wild. It can barely move, and when it does, it does so incredibly slowly. Very easy pickings for a predator,¡± Mr Evans explained.
The reason behind the snake having two heads
Animals that are born with two or more heads have a condition called polycephaly, which is more common in reptiles than in mammals. One possible cause of this condition is if the embryo doesn't entirely complete a division. Alternatively, two separate embryos may fuse together incompletely, creating the Orthrus-like creature.
A 2013 paper in the Journal of Comparative Pathology found that from a sample of 4,087 pit viper hatchlings, only three hatched with two heads. Depending on the way the heads are split, this polycephaly does not often survive for very long. Two heads with two different stomachs are more likely to fight over prey and starve than if the snake has just one stomach.
Nick Evans
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Building, coordinating and crafting engaging content for lifestyle brand 'Evolve' at Indiatimes. Successfully revamping the lifestyle section including topics such as mental health, relationships, self, skin care, music etc. I collaborate with experts from various fields to gather insights and create well-structured pieces.
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