Image: Henk Tanis
“This case concerns the second known case of twinning, the first case of conjoined twins in Phocoena phocoena, the fourth known case of parapagus dicephalus in a cetacean species and the tenth known case of conjoined twinning in a cetacean species,” the researchers wrote. Their work has been published in Deinsea.
Not much is known about what causes conjoined twinning in cetaceans. In humans, conjoined twins are identical twins that are physically attached to each other. In healthy identical twins, an embryo splits into two after fertilization, but in conjoined twins, this process abruptly stops before the separation is complete.
Hopefully, this unusual case will provide some answers to the questions researchers have about partial twinning in cetaceans. RIP baby porpoises, we hardly knew ye.
[Deinsea]