Reptilian Anomalies

In the reptile kingdom there are what is considered to be a few freaks of nature. Some can not survive in the wild and die off easily. Nature isn't perfect. But it's resilience is. More after jump.

From Life Magazine Special - Strange But True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders
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In mythology, the dreaded Hydra was a beast with a serpent's body and multiple heads that was slain, finally, by Hercules. In Byzantine heraldry, the double-headed eagle symbolized the emperor's dominance over society's secular and religious arms. In reality, bicephalic, or two-headed, cattle roam the range and bicephalic snakes slither through the grass. These anomalies are rare, to be sure, but they do exist and perhaps informed the legendary polycephalic monsters of yore.

How does this happen? These creatures are the products of the union of two embryonic disks. Life presents complexities for all two-headed animals but, it has been observed, particular problems arise for the snake because of its single-minded focus on its own survival. As each head has its own brain, there is often disagreement on where to go or what to do: If attacked, the reptile has trouble responding quickly; and if prey is at hand, the heads will vie for which one gets to eat. Sometimes the two heads fight, and if one of them senses food on the other, it might try to devour it. For all of these reasons, two-headed snakes are ill-suited to life in the wild. But some that have been captured have fared well.

Thelma and Louise, a two-headed corn snake, lived at the San Diego Zoo for a number of years. We, a two-headed species albino rat snake, lived for eight years at the World Aquarium at St. Louis's City Museum. Other reptiles that give pause—and there are more than a few—would certainly include the curious Jackson's chameleon. This African lizard is also known as the three-horned chameleon because the male of the species looks like a foot-long triceratops, with a horn on its nose and one by each eye. And get this: Each of those eyes is not only independent of the other but is able to rotate 180 degrees.

Nature doles out some nifty tricks indeed.


From Life Magazine Special - Strange But True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders
Purchase here!