As strange and ᴛᴇʀʀɪꜰʏɪɴɢ as it may sound, a two-headed snake was recently caught on camera ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ two rats simultaneously. The footage, which quickly went viral on social media, has fascinated many people and ʀᴇᴘᴜʟsᴇᴅ.
Double-headed snakes aren’t that common, and 99.9% of them ᴅɪᴇ before their first birthday as the two ʙʀᴀɪɴs make different decisions, so they can’t sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ too well in the wild.
But Brian Barczyk brought these – who are named Ben & Jerry, by the way – up in captivity at ‘The Reptarium’ in Michigan, enabling them to thrive.
The two-headed snake in question is a rare specimen known as a bicephalic or polycephalic snake, meaning it has two distinct heads and necks.
These types of snakes are incredibly rare in the wild and are usually the result of a ɢᴇɴᴇᴛɪᴄ anomaly that occurs during ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏɴɪᴄ development.
Snakes are known for their impressive ability to sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡ ᴘʀᴇʏ much larger than their heads, thanks to their highly flexible ᴊᴀᴡs and expandable ᴛʜʀᴏᴀᴛs.
They do this by ᴅɪsʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪɴɢ their ᴊᴀᴡs to create a wide opening, then slowly working their ᴘʀᴇʏ down their ᴛʜʀᴏᴀᴛsusing muscular ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs.
Despite the sᴇɴsᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ nature of this video, it is essential to remember that two-headed snakes are not ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀs or ꜰʀᴇᴀᴋs of nature.
They are a rare occurrence in the natural world, and their unique ᴀɴᴀᴛᴏᴍʏ can provide them with some advantages in the wild.
