Two Headed Reptile Zoo

‘We couldn’t force-feed it, because we don’t know which head eats.’

Meet the snake, crocodile and tortoise that are not only connected by their cold blood. These animals all have polycephaly: the condition of having two heads.

These ‘conjoined twins’ although different are locked within the same operating body and generally considered as one creature. It is rare to find human conjoined twins as 75 percent are born dead or die within 24 hours and even more uncertain are the fates of other species suffering from a similar condition. So here are four creatures that each stand as a sometimes brief, but spectacular two victory fingers against nature and convention.

Thelma and Louise: Was a two headed corn snake named after the two female leads in Ridley Scott’s 1991 film. In the wild the animal probably would have died, as two heads would have made it a less efficient predator than its one headed sibling, however in captivity at San Diego Zoo, it produced fifteen normal offspring before its big sleep.

Chang and Ang: Was a two headed crocodile named after the famous human Siamese twins. The specimen was found on a crocodile farm called Samut Prakarn near Bangkok, although raised in captivity the poor creature only lived for a week.

Janus: named after a two headed roman god this little fellow not too long ago celebrated its 10th birthday in a museum in Geneva.