photo: TelegraphUK
A two headed shark was caught in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in 2011. The finding raised great concern among biologists, after they were able to ascertain that the specimen was not a fusion of two conjoined 'twin' sharks but an actual mutation in which two separate sharks were fused into a single spine.
The shark with two heads was found inside the uterine sac of an adult bull shark. The two headed shark was immediately handed over to scientists and was still alive when it was extracted from the dead mother.
The biologists who studied the specimen have reason to believe that the deformation might have been caused by the Deep Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico waters near where it was found.
The mutation, which is called axial bifurcation, occurs when the embryo fails to separate completely. If the two headed shark had survived birth, it would not have lived long however, as it would have been impossible for it to swim efficiently and forage with the deformation.
The head and thoracic parts of the sharks were well developed but the rest and caudal portion of the fish were stunted due to the excess energy the formation of two distinct heads would have implied.
Source: The Independent 3.28.13
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