Scientists Declare Two-Headed Fawn As The First Deer Conjoined Twins Born In History

Mar 12, 2019 by apost team

In May 2016, a man hunting mushrooms near Freeburg, Minnesota, got the shock of his life when he found the body of a two-headed fawn. Scientists examined the body, and the results of their study were published in the science journal American Midland Naturalist.

Gino D’Angelo, a researcher with the University of Georgia, commented, “It’s amazing and extremely rare.” He and his colleagues added that while there have been other two-headed deer, they always died in the womb partway through their mother’s pregnancy. By contrast, the Minnesota fawns were the first known two-headed deer to have reached full term.

The scientists performed a CT scan, an MRI, and a full necropsy on the fawns and concluded that they were a pair of female conjoined twins. In addition to having two heads and necks, the twins had two hearts, a malformed liver, extra spleens, and two GI tracts, only one of which was connected to the anus.

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The researchers found that the twin fawns were stillborn when they placed their lungs in water. The lungs sank to the bottom, which proved that the fawns had never taken a breath after being born.

D’Angelo noted that the fawns’ anatomy meant they were not viable. He also commented on the strength of the maternal instinct in their mother. The fawns’ position and condition showed that she had tried to groom and otherwise care for them, despite their being born dead.

The scientists were able to make a skeletal recreation of the fawns, despite the fact that taxidermists had stuffed and mounted them. The researchers plan to display their skeletal recreation at the Veterinary Anatomy Museum at the University of Minnesota.

Nobody yet knows what causes conjoined twins to develop in deer, humans, or anything else. Scientists do know that most conjoined twins die before birth. They also know that people have been seeing and reporting conjoined twins for centuries. Only five of those cases involved members of the deer family.

What do you think of these conjoined twin deer? Let us know in the comments and pass this interesting article along to your friends and family - they've probably never seen conjoined animals, either!