‘Two-headed’ tortoise goes on display at Ukraine museum
Feb 24, 2012 – 11:45 AM ET
| Last Updated: Feb 24, 2012 12:24 PM ET
Genya Savilov / AFP
KYIV — A ‘two-headed’ Central Asian tortoise has gone on display at the natural science museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. Or, at least, it looks like a two-headed tortoise.
“Strictly speaking it isn’t a tortoise with two heads, but rather two conjoined tortoises,” zoologist Yuri Yuravliov said.
“The female has two heads, two hearts, four front legs, but only two hind ones, and one intestine,” he said.
The five-year-old tortoise has a heart-shaped shell and is about a dozen centimetres in width.
The two heads are quite different, even in their feeding habits.
The left one is more dominant and active, “prefers green food, while the other prefers more brightly-coloured food — carrots and dandelion flowers,” said Yuravliov.
The tortoise, a species that can live 50 to 60 years, was kept from birth by a Ukrainian in his home, he said.
“Animals with this type of pathology are only rarely born and don’t survive in natural conditions.”
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Genya Savilov / AFP
Genya Savilov / AFP
Posted in: News, Science Health
Tags: animals
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