Researchers working at the Community Ecology Lab at the University of Haifa in Israel are trying to figure out how a deformed salamander tadpole born in the lab last week ended up having two heads on one body.
Researchers from the Community Ecology Lab at the University of Haifa in Israel are trying to figure out how a deformed salamander tadpole born in the lab last week ended up having two heads on one body.
The species, known as the Far Eastern fire salamander is locally endangered, and experts collected pregnant specimens in the wild to study their offspring.
The two-headed tadpole was born from one of those gathered.
Only one of the heads has been observed eating the insect larvae provided by the researchers, but both of the heads move.
Experts say that salamanders are particularly sensitive to environmental changes, so they are a good early indication of how pollution and other problems might be affecting the habitat.
Theories about why the salamander was deformed and born with two heads include the influence of a tiny population, radiation levels, or water pollution in the area where the salamander’s mother was collected by researchers.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Far Eastern salamander is classified as being near threatened, and continues to be vulnerable by habitat destruction.
