Sunday, September 14, 2008

Two-headed tortoise growing faster then his siblings

A tortoise born with two heads has amazed aquarium staff, after taking advantage of his disability to consume twice as much food as his siblings.
Workers at the Water World aquatic farm at Wuwei town in Anhui, eastern China, were shocked to discover the unusual creature after they ordered a shipment of baby tortoises from a local farm.
Initially they were worried that the tiny 0.6oz (17g) mutant reptile would not survive, but it soon began to overtake its brothers and sisters in size.
Water World spokesman Jimmy Hu said: "We got it two weeks ago and it's growing fast, probably because it can eat twice as fast as the others.
"It was mixed among many other tortoises and we only discovered it this week.
"It's very rare to see a tortoise with two heads, we plan to keep it and raise it carefully for future research."
Two-headed tortoises are extremely rare, but not unheard of.
In 2004 John Jones, from Dorchester, Dorset, was amazed to find his Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise hatched a two-headed infant.
Although its two heads worked independently, like the Chinese tortoise, it is believed their necks were joined.
Also, in 2003 welder Noel Daniels reported that a two-headed angulate tortoise had hatched from eggs laid at his home in Wellington, South Africa.
And Jill Martin, of the Tortoise Trust, also hatched one in south Wales in 2001.

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