A couple years ago, scientists in the marine science department at Florida Keys Community College received a unique gift — a baby bull shark with two heads. The little fish had been cut from its mother’s uterus and, sadly, had died.
The animal was later sent to Michigan State University and given an MRI and X-ray:
The creature, say researchers in a study in the Journal of Fish Biology, is not a conjoined twin but a true two-headed shark. It has two heads, two hearts, and two stomachs, but the rest of its body is singular. It’s the first time that dicephalia, as the condition is called, has been seen in a bull shark.
Top image courtesy of Patrick Rice, Shark Defense/Florida Keys Community College; bottom image courtesy of Michael Wagner; both via MSU