Hairy Museum of Natural History

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and don’t be shy! What you are about to see–well, it might startle you. It might shock you. It might even call into question the basic assumptions you make about the fundamental levels of goodness and decency underlying this world and all who share in it. But, as the poet said, there are indeed more things on heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, and while the spectacle you are about to witness may seem like the dream of some fevered philosopher, no less an institution than the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, France vouches for the authenticity of this unprecedented display.

Shocking? Yes, but also one-hundred-percent real.

After just a few short moments of anticipatory banter, you, dear visitor, will hold before you a link to the unknown, a curiosity so curious that it defies any and all attempts by science or art to ascertain is proper classification.

Is it a recently exhumed treasure from the Orient? Is it a hideous freak of nature? Is it a long-lost record of genetic experimentation by some antediluvian race?

What contrivances have brought it before our wondering eyes this day, and how will you react in its presence? Will you be able to observe it with the dispassionate eye of the scientist, or will your curiosity turn into sheer horror as you behold its monstrous visage?

Prepare yourself, ladies and gentlemen, for what could be the most astonishing thing you will see all day. Take a deep breath, hold your clicking finger at the ready, and Behold! The fabulous Two-Headed Choristodere, ancient master of the obscure herpetological practice of Axial Bifurcation!

Further reading:

Buffetaut, E., Li, J., Tong, H., and Zhang, H. A two-headed reptile from the Cretaceous of China. Biology Letters. First cite early online publishing. DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0580.

John Lynch has the story at Stranger Fruit.

And a creepy little restoration.

Update 12/23: A nice article on this and other Chinese choristoderes is up at microecos.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Cretaceous, Recent Discoveries, Reptiles.