De Vector

Two-headed turtle draws veterinarians’ attention

The rare hatchling from Massachusetts is being examined and closely monitored for now.

A young diamondback terrapin with two heads has been found in Massachusetts. Veterinarians are monitoring the animal to see how the two heads work together and how the rare developmental abnormality progresses.

The hatchling was found near a protected nesting area in Wellfleet, on Cape Cod. According to reporting by CBS Boston, a conservation organisation brought the animal to the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable. The hatchling was admitted there on 17 September for observation and care.

The turtle weighs about 5.2 grams. The condition is called bicephaly: during embryonic development, a single embryo does not fully split, resulting in two heads on one body. The precise internal anatomy varies from animal to animal and cannot be determined from the outside alone.

The veterinarians are monitoring appetite, growth, behaviour and movement. According to the centre, both heads were alert and the animal initially appeared normal. This does not predict its lifespan or ultimate health. In such rare cases, development can vary considerably.

The find is striking, but not unique. The Cape Wildlife Center told CBS that the team had seen two other turtles with a similar abnormality over the past five years. The veterinarians mainly use such cases to learn more about the species’ anatomy and physiology.

It is a diamondback terrapin, a species that lives in the coastal areas of the eastern United States. Massachusetts considers the species endangered. For the population as a whole, protecting nesting sites and monitoring by volunteers are therefore more important than caring for this one exceptional animal.

The find resulted from conservation work around the nests. Volunteers check nesting sites, help record data and, when necessary, take vulnerable hatchlings to specialised care facilities. This not only leads to the discovery of abnormal animals, but also generates information about the species’ reproduction.

Scientifically, this is not evidence of a change in the population or of an environmental effect. The sources do not report that pollution, climate change or another external cause produced the abnormality. For now, the only certainty is that one young animal with bicephaly has been found and is being monitored by veterinarians.

The case is mainly interesting because rare developmental abnormalities show how flexible, but also how vulnerable, embryonic development can be. The coming examinations may provide information about how the two nervous systems, heads and bodily functions work together. No general conclusions about turtles or their habitat should yet be drawn from this.

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