homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Freak of nature: two-headed snake hatched

A biblical-like creature has sprung out into the world recently, when a  two-headed albino milk snake was born – an event of extreme rarity. This comes right on the heels of the three-eyed fish found next to a nuclear power plant in Argentina. In this case, nature alone and its experimentation seems to be responsible. The snake hatched […]

Tibi Puiu
November 1, 2011 @ 12:10 pm

share Share

A biblical-like creature has sprung out into the world recently, when a  two-headed albino milk snake was born – an event of extreme rarity. This comes right on the heels of the three-eyed fish found next to a nuclear power plant in Argentina. In this case, nature alone and its experimentation seems to be responsible.

The snake hatched last week in an incubation container of Sunshine Serpents, outside of Brooksville, FL. A two-headed snake has been heard of before, but it’s extremely rare, a 1 in 10,000 chance. Although this particular snake or snakes, depends on how you want to see it, is an albino, it isn’t actually white. Albino snakes just don’t have dark pigmentation in their skin, instead they appear in bright shades of red, orange and white.

“It’s kind of a freak of nature,” said Parker, who owns and operates Sunshine Serpents. “In the wild, something like this would never survive.”

Albino Honduran milk snakes originate from Central America, can grow up to 6 feet and some have been reported to have lived more than 20 years in captivity. They aren’t poisonous.

Biologists from University of Central Florida  say these types of freak events happen when twin snakes don’t separate in time, and in turn get stuck together as one. Most of them don’t hatch, dying in the incubation process, however this one made it, although its health status is still uncertain.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going on on the inside of the snake or how well formed all the parts are,” Parker said.

Photos courtesy of Tampa Tribune.

share Share

Scientists Created a Chymeric Mouse Using Billion-Year-Old Genes That Predate Animals

A mouse was born using prehistoric genes and the results could transform regenerative medicine.

Scientists Found a 380-Million-Year-Old Trick in Velvet Worm Slime That Could Lead To Recyclable Bioplastic

Velvet worm slime could offer a solution to our plastic waste problem.

Researchers Wake Up Algae That Went Dormant Before the First Pyramids

Scientists have revived 7,000-year-old algae from Baltic Sea sediments, pushing the limits of resurrection ecology.

A Fossil So Strange Scientists Think It’s From a Completely New Form of Life

This towering mystery fossil baffled scientists for 180 Years and it just got weirder.

Miyazaki Hates Your Ghibli-fied Photos and They're Probably a Copyright Breach Too

“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” he said.

Your Gum Is Shedding Microplastics into Your Saliva

One gram of chewing gum can release up to 600 microplastic particles into your body.

Octopus rides the world's fastest shark and nobody knows what's going on

A giant octopus rode a mako shark. No one knows why.

Scientists Discover Cells That Defy Death and Form New Life After the Body Dies. Enter The "Third State"

Some cells reorganize into living 'bots' long after the organism perished.

The Roundest (and Most Rectangular) Countries, According to Math

Apparently, Sierra Leone is both very round and quite rectangular.

Some 31 million years ago, these iguanas rafted over 5,000 miles of ocean

New research reveals an extraordinary journey across the Pacific that defies what we thought was possible.