Adult two headed turtles are some of the most sought-after turtle’s in the world. This is due to their extreme rarity, especially because the vast majority of two headed turtles do not survive childhood. Despite their rarity, fossils from two headed turtles date back to 150 million years ago.
In today’s article, we are going to discuss everything you need to know about two headed turtles.
What causes a two-headed turtle?
A two headed turtle is caused by a condition known as bicephaly or dicephaly. Essentially, two-headed turtles are Siamese twins that live under the same shell. They can also share the same stomach and limbs. Two-headed turtles are usually a genetic mutation, similar to albino turtles.
A two-headed turtle can result in two different instances:
- One embryo does not split properly
- Two different embryos fuse together
Below are pictures of both conditions:
One embryo split
Fused together
Imagine you go to your local river, and see one of these turtles sticking their heads out of the water!
While these are both fresh water turtles, there are also reports of sea turtles becoming Siamese twins. Check out this article about a logger head Siamese twin. This two headed turtle survived and made it to adulthood.
Double headed turtles in the wild
As you might expect, life in the wild can be pretty grim. It is undeniably more difficult for a double headed turtle to perform essential tasks. This includes obtaining prey, but also avoiding capture from their predators. They are almost always the slowest, and therefore are the first ones to get tracked down.
How rare is a two headed turtle?
A two-headed turtle is extremely rare. While there is no official estimate of the rarity of two headed turtles, I would guess it maybe occurs once every 20,000 eggs hatched.
What are the causes of two headed turtles:
Two headed turtles can form because of two factors: genetics and environment.
While there are certainly Siamese twins that develop due to a genetic characteristic, they can also be formed due to environmental changes. For example, they are more likely to be knocked around in the wild, which can certainly have an impact on the development of the baby turtle.
Which animals have the highest frequency of Siamese twins?
Interestingly enough, reptiles have the highest frequency of two headed animals. This is in part because reptiles have way more offspring per pregnancy. It is also due to the fact that eggs are more likely to have environmental induced issues since they are exposed as eggs in the wild. Mammals have many less problems to worry about, since they develop under the protection of their mother’s belly.
Out of all the reptiles, snakes are the most likely to have two heads. However, turtles are not too far behind.
