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Two-Headed C. cyanurus larvae

Knuxtiger4

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I've been raising some C. cyanurus from my group which late 2017 begin to lay eggs and that they were viable ones this time around. It came to a surprise however when upon checking my hatchlings on 12/19 that I discovered something of the weird science nature.

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It came to my surprise that this appeared to be a two-headed larvae! Knowing the information on know on two headed critters, a lot of them don't make it so I did not expect this one to make it past a few days at this point in time.

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Well a week or so in that this little fellow was still very much alive and developing. I honestly at this point baffled since its actually thriving. At this point I'm just watching this one progress and taking a lot of photos to watch how this one develops.

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I'm now at nearly a month in with this little one at its so far developed front legs and has still been growing and eating without an issue. At this point I did separate it with its other siblings so that it has the best odds. I'm still keeping in mind that at any point in development I can lose this one but I have to say very fun documenting this as it grows since there not many cases from what I've looked into.

As of the second head, from what I can see in development and my own photos that the second head is underdeveloped with no eyes or a mouth but however has gills on its right side while the main head is missing them where the second head meets. Some have theorized that the embryo split incorrectly. I've also had some keepers theorize that the second head may recede once getting close to morphing into an eft.

I wanted to share this here since as said, its been interesting for me personally s someone who loves weird science and have never even heard of two headed newts/salamanders until this occurred with this little one.
 

Knuxtiger4

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Updating with some additional picture since this little one just hit their 1-month mark!

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Closest I can get to getting some good photos of the second head with my iPhone camera. The second head is definitely underdeveloped but you can see very clear where a second spine is that goes from the second head to the main body. The little fellow gets around well with the second head and now has back legs growing as of now.

Now to see it grow some more before it morphs and then the next hurdle comes.
 

Knuxtiger4

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As far as I can see that the second head does not have a mouth or eyes but has a set of gills on the right side of it. Best way to describe it that the second head is like a tumor in a sense but it does appear that second head has a spine that connect to the main body. Waiting for this little one to get a bit bigger to hopefully capture some more photos of it.

My guess is that if it makes it past metamorphing that the head will likely resemble a tumor on this newt once it grows up? I'm sure there are more scientific way to word what is going on with the development on this one regardless just amazed this one is going strong.
 
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