two-headed bull shark msu.jpg

A team of scientists led by MSU has confirmed the world's first record instance of a two-headed bull shark.

(Photo by MSU)

EAST LANSING, MI -- A group of scientists led by Michigan State University have confirmed the discovery of the world's first-ever two-headed bull shark.

The creature, which was found on April 7, 2011, was confirmed by the MSU-led study to be a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins.

Michael Wagner, assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife at MSU, said it is the the recorded instance of dicephalia -- the development of two heads -- in a bull shark. Wagner confirmed the discovery with colleagues at Florida Keys Community College.

"This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," he 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."

A fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico found the two-headed fish when he opened the utuerus of an adult shark. The fetus died shortly thereafter, and Wagner said it stood little chance of surviving in the wild.

"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."

This image shows the skeletal and some tissue structure of the two-headed bull shark.

The shark was brought to the marine science department at Florida Keys Community College. From there, it was transported to Michigan State's campus for further examination.

Wagner and his team were able to detail through MRIs two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs. The remainder of the fetus' body joined together in the back half to form a single tail.

The two-headed shark's discovery came about a year after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, when an estimated 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the water between late April 2010 and July 2010.

Wagner said attributing the two-headed creature's development to potential exposure to pollutants from the spill is "unwarranted."

"

We simply have no evidence to support that cause or any other," he said.

The study appears in the Journal of Fish Biology.

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