DARWIN: Australian wildlife authorities made an unusual discovery when they stumbled upon a three-eyed snake near the city of Darwin.

The peculiar reptile was found by rangers on the Arnhem Highway near Humpty Doo, the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (May 1).



X-ray results revealed the juvenile snake, which is about 40cm long, has one skull with an additional eye socket and three functioning eyes, instead of having two separate heads “forged together”.

“It was generally agreed that the eye likely developed very early during the embryonic stage of development," the commission wrote.

"It is extremely unlikely that this is from environmental factors and is almost certainly a natural occurrence as malformed reptiles are relatively common."



The wildlife authorities told the BBC that the snake had been struggling to eat due to its deformity.