Two-headed calf (RIP)
This two-headed calf was euthanized in King William's Town, South Africa last week. Born on a stock farm, the calf was only a day old and very weak. RIP, little mutant calf. From Daily Dispatch Online:
Two-headed calf born in EC“When it got here it was still conscious and breathing from both noses, but it was very weak and might not have survived another day,” Rademeyer said.
Although both heads were conscious, the reaction from one of them was visibly slower than the other, she said. Both sets of eyes and tongues were moving...
“These animals seldom survive.”
Previously:
- Two-headed Bearded Dragon - Boing Boing
- Blinky, the two-headed calf, RIP - Boing Boing
- Extra-special two-headed turtle - Boing Boing
- Two-headed fossil - Boing Boing
- Two-headed animal exhibit in St. Louis - Boing Boing
- Two-headed Cuban tortoise - Boing Boing
- Calf with two noses - Boing Boing
- Two-headed turtle - Boing Boing
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“These animals seldom survive.”
Especially when you euthanize them.
I just suddenly lost my appetite for lunch...
"Sometimes, dead is bettah...."
#1 speaks the truth.
Oh, this story got it's own page. Awsome.
So, once again, how are we supposed to survive the third world war without two-headed cattle to produce rad-free milk?
Have to ditto #1. Best comment on this thread.
What, no "sad mutants" tag?
Yeah I bet they do "seldom survive" when euthanized.
This calf likely had a purely phenotypic problem. So calling the calf a mutant would be inaccurate.
i'll have a double cheeseburger please!
Can you imagine the head cheese that can be made from that calf?
I'm not sure which is more unwonderful: the article itself or the comments. Both, I think.
+1 to #9 -- this is most likely a developmental defect without any particular underlying mutation. This may seem like a trivial distinction, but the common misconception that freaks are all genetic freaks leads to some skewed perspectives about organic evolution, and I'm here to whine about it.
There was a two-headed calf in Idaho some years back. They sell two-headed calf stuffed animals at many stores in Boise. My nephew has one and calls it his "two-head dog".
I guess it might have been cruel to let it live if it was going to suffer and slowly die, but still. It would have been really interesting to see how it functioned before it naturally died.
I'm surprised this one hasn't shown up on BB yet.
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=114228
This calf likely had a purely phenotypic problem. So calling the calf a mutant would be inaccurate.
Actually, this calf is probably a mutant, and the gene involved is probably one of the Hedgehog family of genes. Actually, probably Sonic Hedgehog itself, which (when mutated) results in cyclopia or facial duplication.
If I had to bet, I'd say that the anatomy of the brain inside that head is probably not a fusion (as it is in "true" two-headed animals) but rather a three-lobed big ol' midline problem.
I wonder if it got turned into a two for one veal meal?
yah yah, I know, bad joke...
Ophite, I know that mutations in the Hedgehog genes can create results similar to this but my impression was that most results like this were not due to such mutations. I'm not a biologist so could be wrong.