Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first two headed bull shark in the Gulf of Mexico in a study conducted by Michigan State University.
The unique specimen was found in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011. In a study led by the Michigan State University, scientists confirmed that the specimen was the first two headed bull shark and not conjoined twins as previously believed to be.
Earlier, discoveries have been made of blue sharks and tope sharks having double heads but this is the first time the bull species of sharks has been found with two heads.
"This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," Wagner said. "It's good that we have this documented as part of the world's natural history, but we'd certainly have to find many more before we could draw any conclusions about what caused this."
The rare find was discovered by a fisherman when he opened the uterus of an adult shark. The two-headed shark died shortly thereafter and had little, if any, chance of surviving in the wild.
Michael Wagner, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, who confirmed the discovery with colleagues at the Florida Keys Community College.
"You'll see many more cases of two-headed lizards and snakes," Wagner said. "That's because those organisms are often bred in captivity, and the breeders are more likely to observe the anomalies. Given the timing of the shark's discovery with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I could see how some people may want to jump to conclusions.
"Making that leap is unwarranted. We simply have no evidence to support that cause or any other," he said.
