The extremely rare find is one of the few examples of conjoined twins ever seen outside of humans.
Scientists were “totally amazed” when they discovered the beautifully preserved corpses of dead conjoined twin bats under a tree in Brazil.
The bats were found under a tree in Brazil. (Credit: Marcelo R. Nogueira: Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais)
It is only the third recorded case of Siamese bats (Credit: Nadja L. Pinheiro, from the Embryology Area, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro)
It is only the third appearance of Siamese bats that has been documented, and experts are now analyzing their remains to learn more about the phenomenon.
When the bats were discovered under a mango tree in the southeast of the country, they were thought to have been stillborn and still had their placenta attached.
Marcelo Nogueira, from the State University of the North of Rio de Janeiro, said: “We believe that the mother of these twins was perched on this tree when she gave birth.
“We hope that cases like this will encourage further studies into bat embryology, an open and fascinating field of research that can greatly benefit from the material already available in scientific collections.”
Conjoined animals are little known, and only one in every 200,000 human births involves conjoined twins.
Human survival rates are approximately 15%, but animal survival rates are estimated to be substantially lower.
X-rays show that bats have separate heads and hearts, but a convergent spine (Credit: Laboratório de Radiografias, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
Its total wingspan measures around 13 cm (Credit: Nadja L. Pinheiro, from the Embryology Area, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro)
Male bats have separate heads and necks, but their spines eventually merge into one, according to an x-ray.
They also have two separate but similar sized hearts.
The total width of the twins, including wingspan, is approximately 13 cm.
Based on their physical characteristics, scientists determined that they were most likely ‘Artibeus’ bats.