Images of the snake were posted to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s Facebook page.
“A rare two-headed southern black racer was recently found at a residence in Palm Harbor by Kay Rogers and family,” reads the post.
FWC said the split heads on a single body is known as bicephaly, and it occurs while the snake is developing as an embryo “when two monozygotic twins failed to separate, leaving the heads conjoined onto a single body.”
The snake is now in the care of FWC staff.
“Two-headed snakes are unlikely to survive in the wild as the two brains make different decisions that inhibit the ability to feed or escape from predators,” the FWC said.
Images of the snake were posted to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research
Institute’s Facebook page.
“A rare two-headed southern black racer was recently found at a residence
in Palm Harbor by Kay Rogers and family,” reads the post.
FWC said the split heads on a single body is known as bicephaly, and it
occurs while the snake is developing as an embryo “when two monozygotic
twins failed to separate, leaving the heads conjoined onto a single body.”
The snake is now in the care of FWC staff.
“Two-headed snakes are unlikely to survive in the wild as the two brains
make different decisions that inhibit the ability to feed or escape from
predators,” the FWC said.
a snake with a 2-core processor.