[DiamondSmiles]

By Zack Kraimer
Heavy

Just when we think we have the ocean figured out, it goes and springs something like this on us — a fisherman caught a bull shark off the Florida Keys, and when he cut the thing open he found two live fetuses. Well, three if you count the one with two heads.

That's right, one of the fetuses had two fully-formed heads on its tiny body, according to National Geographic.

The fisherman found the thing alive, but it died shortly afterward and he turned it over to scientists. The scientific team, led by C. Michael Wagner at Michigan State University, said it was the first known case of this happening in bull sharks.

Their findings were published in the Journal of Fish Biology on March 25. Wagner said that studying creatures with rare deformities like this one will give invaluable insight into developmental processes.

This rare genetic anomaly, called, "axial bifurcation," occurs when two embryos are dividing in the womb but for some reason cease splitting.

The two sharks, which would have been twins, were forever fused by this mysterious biological process. After giving the little guy an MRI, the team discovered that it had two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs, and that the rest of the animal was fused together in its tiny underdeveloped body.

The animal likely would have died early on in the wild due to its body size, according to Wagner, who also said that this kind of deformity is more often seen in lizards and other captive-bred animals because breeders encounter them more frequently.

While this is the first two-headed bull shark found, it's far from the only two-headed critter discovered. Here are some of our favorite other, (sometimes disturbingly cute), bifurcations:

Snake(s) (as if one snake head wasn't creepy enough)

Bearded Dragon(s)

Cow(s)

Cat(s)

And of course...

Human(s)

[Faline]

Aww it's kinda cute.

The animal likely would have died early on in the wild due to its body size

Well we'll never know will we!

[Karma]

Pttthhhh. Fisherman catching sharks. Poor bugger should still be alive. Why the hell didn't he throw it back instead of cutting it open. I suppose the one good thing is it 'will give valuable insight into developmental processes'.

[kellyhound]

nature can act weird

[DiamondSmiles]

I like how they put the Hensel twins in there

I hadn't seen the bearded dragon before. That was cool!

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Karma ↗

Pttthhhh. Fisherman catching sharks. Poor bugger should still be alive. Why the hell didn't he throw it back instead of cutting it open. I suppose the one good thing is it 'will give valuable insight into developmental processes'.

Hindsight is always 20/20. I guess he didn't think to grab a bucket of sea water and contact someone to see if he could raise it a while.

[OhJstFkOffAlrdy]

I think humanity dodged a bullet with this one. This fisherman may very well have saved us from being overrun by wave after wave of 2-headed sharks.

Because as every good biologist knows, first it's two heads; then it's lungs and feet.

[Sharon]

Awwww how sweet.

Hate this "that's unusual, let's kill it" thing

[myss)(phit]

idky but when i scrolled to the last one i burst out laughing, going to read the bible right meow

[myss)(phit]

what i mean is they shouldn't be categorized with the animals lmfao