3 years ago
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A uncommon double-headed turtle is thriving astatine a Massachusetts wildlife halfway wherever the 2-week-old carnal is being treated.
The Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center said connected social media that the diamondback terrapin has 2 heads owed to a information called bicephaly, which they described arsenic a "rare anomaly that tin hap from some familial and biology factors that power an embryo during development."
The six-legged turtle was brought to the wildlife halfway 2 weeks agone by the Barnstable Department of Natural Resources aft they hatched astatine a protected nesting site.
The Associated Press reported that unit is feeding them humor worms and nutrient pellets.
The unit said x-rays revealed the turtle has 2 spines that are fused further down the body.
"We person been observing them moving and swimming, showing they each person power of 3 legs," the unit said.
The unit said a barium survey was done, and it revealed that they each person abstracted GIs.
"The close broadside appears to beryllium somewhat much developed, but they are eating and digesting food," the unit said. "A supervised heavy h2o aquatics trial showed that they tin coordinate swimming truthful that they tin travel to the aboveground to respire erstwhile needed."
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