TABLE …I thank Dr. Hemant Ghate, Dr. Anil Mahabal, Anilkumar Khaire, and Tejas Khaire for their...
2
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(2):81–82 • JUN 2015 Records of Dicephalic (Two-headed) Snakes from India Amit Sayyed Wildlife Protection and Research Society, Satara, Maharashtra ([email protected]) 81 Copyright © 2015. Amit Sayyed. All rights reserved. WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL I herein report four dicephalic snakes from India. Three were Russell’s Vipers (Daboia russelii) and the fourth was a Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helenus), a species for which dicephaly is reported here for the first time. One two-headed Russell’s Viper (Fig. 1) was captured on 23 July 2006 by local villagers in the Kheri District, Uttar Pradesh. This snake moved very slowly and it did not respond even after being perturbed. It died in the captivity of villag- ers on 27 July 2006 (Mishra 2006). A second two-headed juvenile Russell’s Viper (Fig. 2) was caught on 14 August 2008 by a snake catcher on a rescue call at Saswad Taluka Purandar (18°20’27”N, 74°2’18”E), Pune, Maharashtra. This snake died within a day. The specimen was deposited in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) at Pune (R/1038). Another two-headed juvenile Russell’s Viper (Fig. 3) was found on 6 July 2013 during a rescue call at Bastora near Mapusa (15°35’0”N, 73°49’7”E), Bastora Goa. The snake was turned over to the local forestry department, where it died after two days in captivity. A juvenile Trinket Snake (Figs. 4 & 5) was caught on 19 February 2014 during a rescue call by local snake friends at Kiroli Chakan (18°43’6”N, 73°50’56”E), Pune, Maharashtra. After examination, it was taken to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Zoo in Pune. An x-ray (Fig. 5) showed that the heads sepa- rate at a fork in the spine; the anatomy of this snake otherwise appears to be normal. Keeping this snake at the zoo provided an opportunity to examine its behavior. The snake is unable to move easily and appears to have a great deal of difficulty deciding in which direction to go. Cunningham (1937) used the term “polycephaly” for this type of disorder in animals, which results from abnormal INTRODUCED SPECIES IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY Fig. 1. A dicephalic Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) captured in 2006. Total length was 252 mm. Photograph by Krishna Mishra. Fig. 2. A dicephalic Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) captured in 2008. Total length was 228.6 mm; distance from the rostrals to the bifurcation was 13 mm. Photographs by Krushna Ghule.
Transcript of TABLE …I thank Dr. Hemant Ghate, Dr. Anil Mahabal, Anilkumar Khaire, and Tejas Khaire for their...
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(2):81–82•JUN2015
Records of Dicephalic (Two-headed) Snakes from India
Amit Sayyed
WildlifeProtectionandResearchSociety,Satara,Maharashtra([email protected])
81Copyright©2015.AmitSayyed.Allrightsreserved.
WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL
I hereinreport fourdicephalic snakes fromIndia.ThreewereRussell’sVipers(Daboia russelii)andthefourthwasaTrinketSnake(Coelognathus helenus),aspeciesforwhichdicephalyisreportedhereforthefirsttime. Onetwo-headedRussell’sViper(Fig.1)wascapturedon23July2006bylocalvillagersintheKheriDistrict,UttarPradesh.Thissnakemovedveryslowlyanditdidnotrespondevenafterbeingperturbed.Itdiedinthecaptivityofvillag-erson27July2006(Mishra2006).Asecondtwo-headedjuvenileRussell’sViper(Fig.2)wascaughton14August2008byasnakecatcheronarescuecallatSaswadTalukaPurandar (18°20’27”N,74°2’18”E),Pune,Maharashtra.Thissnakediedwithinaday.ThespecimenwasdepositedinthecollectionoftheZoologicalSurveyofIndia(ZSI)atPune(R/1038).Anothertwo-headedjuvenileRussell’sViper(Fig.3)wasfoundon6 July2013duringarescuecallatBastoranearMapusa(15°35’0”N,73°49’7”E),BastoraGoa.Thesnakewasturnedovertothelocalforestrydepartment,whereitdiedaftertwodaysincaptivity. AjuvenileTrinketSnake(Figs.4&5)wascaughton19February2014duringarescuecallbylocalsnakefriendsatKiroliChakan (18°43’6”N,73°50’56”E),Pune,Maharashtra.
Afterexamination,itwastakentothePimpri-ChinchwadZooinPune.Anx-ray(Fig.5)showedthattheheadssepa-rate at a fork in the spine; the anatomy of this snake otherwise appearstobenormal. Keepingthissnakeatthezooprovidedanopportunitytoexamineitsbehavior.Thesnakeisunabletomoveeasilyandappearstohaveagreatdealofdifficultydecidinginwhichdirectiontogo. Cunningham(1937)usedtheterm“polycephaly”forthistypeofdisorderinanimals,whichresultsfromabnormal
I N T R O D U C E D S P E C I E S
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
H U S B A N D R Y
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
P R O F I L E
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
C O M M E N T A R Y
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
B O O K R E V I E W
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
IRC
F
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
Fig. 1.AdicephalicRussell’sViper(Daboia russelii)capturedin2006.Totallengthwas252mm.PhotographbyKrishnaMishra.
Fig. 2.AdicephalicRussell’sViper(Daboia russelii)capturedin2008.Totallengthwas228.6mm;distancefromtherostralstothebifurcationwas13mm.PhotographsbyKrushnaGhule.
82
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(2):81–82•JUN2015INTRODUCEDSPECIES
development.ThewordisderivedfromtheGreek“poly-”(=many)andkephalé (=head)andencompassesbothbicephalyanddicephaly,eitherreferringtotwo-headedness.Dicephalyis seen occasionally in reptiles, with the most commonly observedtwo-headedanimalsbeingturtlesandsnakes(Anina2003).About400instancesofdicephalicsnakeshavebeenrecorded(Matz2001). Eachheadofadicephalicanimalhasitsownbrain,andtheysomehowsharecontroloftheorgansandlimbs,althoughthespecificstructureoftheconnectionvaries.Animalsoftenmoveinadisorientedfashion,withthetwobrainsunabletocoordinatecontrol.Dicephalicindividualsrarelysurviveinnature,largelyattributabletoproblemswithdirectionalmovementandpreycapture(Derickson1927).However,two-headedturtlesandsnakeshavesurvivedformorethanafewyearsincaptivity.TherecordisheldbyasnakeattheWorldAquarium,aninteractiveanimalexhibitionandreha-bilitationcenterlocatedintheCityMuseuminSt.Louis,Missouri,UnitedStates.“We,”adicephalicalbinoWesternRatsnake(Pantherophis obsoletus),diednaturallyaftereightyears(Leonard2007).
AcknowledgmentsIthankDr.HemantGhate,Dr.AnilMahabal,AnilkumarKhaire,andTejasKhairefortheirsupport;Dr.AmitKamatforperformingthex-rayofCoelognathus helenus;KrushnaGhule,SubhasGhule,andBapusahebSonawaneforallowingmetoobservetwo-headedsnakes;andKrishnaMishraandAmrutSinghforprovidingmewithinformationandphoto-graphsofDaboia russelii.
Literature CitedAnina,S.2003.Two-headedcreatures.29November2003.Pravda.ru.<http://
english.pravda.ru/science/tech/29-11-2003/4201-anomaly-0>.
Cunningham,B. 1937.Axial Bifurcation in Serpents.DukeUniversityPress,Durham,NorthCarolina.
Derickson,S.H.1927. Atwinturtle.The Science Monthly25:562–565.
Leonard,C.2007.‘We’the2-headedsnake’slongoddlifeends.20June2007.Associated Press. <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19334041/ns/technol-ogy_and_science-science/t/we--headed-snakes-long-odd-life-ends/#.VQB-LyihQVQ>.
Matz,G.2001.Tératologie,pp.106–107.In:R.Bauchot(ed.), Serpents.Artémis,Paris,France.
Mishra,K.K.2006.Two-headedsnakefound.ThisisaSiamesetwins[sic]notevolution.23July2006.DudhwaJungles.<http://dudhwa.blogspot.com>.
Fig. 5.X-rayofadicephalicTrinketSnake(Coelognathus helenus)capturedin2014.PhotographbyAmitKamat.
Fig. 4.AdicephalicTrinketSnake(Coelognathus helenus)capturedin2014.Totallengthwas426.7mm;distancefromtherostralstothebifur-cationwas30mm.PhotographsbyBapusahebSonawane.
Fig. 3.AdicephalicRussell’sViper(Daboia russelii)capturedin2013.Totallengthwas234mm.PhotographbyAmrutSingh.
