Two-headed bat carcasses in Brazil shocked the experts

The body of the bat has two sticky heads on a stem discovered under the mango root and donated to Brazilian scientists for research.

Marcelo Rodrigues Nogueira, Ph.D. in biology at North State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in a new study published in Anatomia Histologia Embryologia describes a case of two twin bats attached to the body, Live Science on 31 / 7 reported.

"I was surprised. I have never seen two bats born with bats like that, although they have seen very impressive morphological characteristics , " Nogueira said. According to him, only two similar two-headed bat cases were recorded in studies in 1969 and 2015.

Two twin bats stick themselves.(Photo: Dr. Nadja L. Pinheiro).

The bodies of two twin bats were found in 2001 under a mango tree in southern Brazil. The specimen was then donated to Mastozoology Laboratory at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

According to conjecture, two bats belonging to Artibeus species , died at birth or died due to still sticking on their bodies. Their spine forms a Y-shape. The ultrasound image shows two similarly sized hearts, which are predicted to be separate. Researchers decided not to remove the bat to keep the specimen intact.

The phenomenon of twin bats attached to eggs occurs when eggs break down too late after fertilization. Two individuals will form independently if the egg separates 4-5 days after fertilization but will be conjoined if separation occurs at 13-15 days after fertilization. The exact cause of the phenomenon has not been determined.

Characteristics of almost only one baby per litter and the location and time of birth of this bat make researchers rarely detect bats at the two ends. Conjoined twin bats often die only a short time after birth because the body structure cannot help them maintain their life.