Britt Jones
Warning: This article contains images of a deceased animal which readers may find distressing.
A 'mutant' cow born in Kentucky puzzled farmers after it was found to have two heads.
It’s no surprise that there are some abnormalities that can occur during the foetal development stage, but there are few things that can surprise you when you witness the birth of an animal.
However, a recent birth left a US family stunned when an incredibly rare occurrence happened to a cow.
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Like many other calves that arrive into the world with the genetic mutation polycephaly, this poor thing was also pronounced dead shortly after its birth.
Stemming from the Greek words Poly (many) and Kephalē (head), anything containing the rare genetic trait will have multiple heads.
Dr Alaina Macdonald told Huron County Museum: “Anything that disrupts that delicate timing of gene expression (including random chance) can cause abnormalities in embryonic development.”
So, polycephaly isn’t an inherited gene, it’s a completely random fluke in the developmental process.
Macdonald said that ‘polycephalic animals often don’t live long enough to reproduce’.
The calf, born into the Tarter family in Edmonson County, Kentucky, had four eyes, four ears, two mouths and two noses.
The shocking birth is just a one in 400 million chance of occurring, according to Cassie Tater, an agricultural student.
Cassie, 20, said: “He had two heads, four ears, four eyes, two noses, two mouths, and two tongues.
“He was very short-backed but he also had his spine inverted into his chest cavity. His back legs were deformed and he had a very short tail.”
Cassie admitted that it ‘shocked’ her, but it’s not the first time she’s heard of an animal being born that way.
She shared: “We had a pig like this years ago but I wasn’t born at the time.”
These animals often face a number of health problems due to its genetic composition and physical abnormalities, and though this one was born alive, it died shortly after.
Along with a curved spine, the calf also had a cleft palate in one of its mouths, an underdeveloped rectum and arthrogryposis in its legs.
Cassie said: “I had to have it to bring to my class at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. I learned that there are two ways this can happen: one is DNA RNA replication, another is it being twins that stopped growing and started to be ‘absorbed’.
“We did an autopsy on him in my physiology and reproduction class and found out his organs were perfect for just one calf so it wasn’t a twin that stopped growing.”
While the calf unfortunately died, the mother cow was reported to be doing well.
Although its death was a sad reality of the condition, Cassie believes some good came of the tragedy.
Cassie said: “It was a bit of both because we did end up turning it into a learning experience. So I got that out of it, and so did everybody else.”