Photos via Metro
Check out this bizarre two-headed bobtail
lizard that was discovered a couple of days ago in Perth Australia! Also, it turns out that the
heads hate each other, and the larger one keeps attacking the smaller
one.
The bobtail lizard is a type of skink lizard commonly known as a
Shingleback in the great down under. Occurrences of two headed large vertebrates surviving in the wild are infrequent to say the least — the lizard’s two heads are the result of a rare genetic mutation.
It’s been rescued and is being
cared for at a reptile park in Henley Brook. The
wildlife biologists say it’s doing well, but note that two-headed
lizards don’t typically have very long life expectancies. You know,
because of the whole two head, one body thing. Here’s an x-ray of
the creature:
The BBC has
more details: the two headed lizard “apparently eats
from both heads but the larger head has also tried to attack the
smaller one, and its movement is difficult as both heads control its
back legs. It also has a healthy sibling without any mutation. Bobtails
give birth to live offspring, rather than laying eggs.”
Given that we just had Earth Day, we’re all aware that global climate change is
continuing largely unabated. Deforestation may have slowed some but is
still a colossal issue, endangered species are dropping like flies and
water is running out all over the place.
But this two-headed lizard is still neat-looking.
Brian Merchant covers politics for TreeHugger,
where a version of this post originally appeared.
More
from TreeHugger
- 7 Creepy, Crawly, Endangered Reptiles With Weird Genetic Traits
- The Best and Worst News for the Planet Since the Last Earth Day
- 7 Mutant Animals Created by (Mad) Science: Amazing or Disturbing? : TreeHugger
- WATCH VIDEO: Top 5: Franken (as in “stein”) Animals
- The Most Incredible Species Discovered in 2009 (View and Vote)
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