San Antonio Zoo announced the birth of a rare two-headed turtle Tuesday, June 25. The turtle has been named Thelma and Louise after the Oscar winning Ridley Scott's road movie of the same name.
A two-headed female turtle was hatched at the San Antonia Zoo Tuesday, June 18, 2013 along with three other turtles. The officials were excited by the discovery of the rare Texas cooter and named it "Thelma and Louise!" after the famous 1991 Oscar-winning movie of the same name. The Zoo officials will be displaying Thelma and Louise Thursday, at the Richard Friedrich Aquarium.
The two-headed turtle is healthy and is able to walk and swim, according the zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike. In a 56-second video from the San Antonio Zoo, the female Texas cooter moved actively in the hands of a zoo official. The video also features the swimming ability of the tiny-green turtle using its limbs just like any normal turtle.
The uncommon bicephalic two-headed turtle "is doing well on exhibit and eating with both heads," Craig Pelke, Curator of Reptiles, Amphibians, and Aquatics, said in a press statement.
Bicephalic creatures are twins, which are not separated physically but have two or more heads in some cases with one body. It is a common occurrence in rat snakes and turtles. Other than reptiles, bicephaly is also seen in cats, cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. In July last year, a two-headed turtle was released into the ocean by the Broward County hatching turtle rescue officials.
The San Antonio Zoo had also housed a two-headed Texas rat snake named Janus from 1978 till 1995, when it died.