Archive · 7 Oct 2026
Rare Two-Headed Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling Found on Cape Cod
Researchers found a very unusual baby turtle on Cape Cod.
It has two heads but only one body.
The turtle is a diamondback terrapin, a kind that lives near the eastern United States coast.
Its condition is called bicephaly.
That means the baby developed with two heads because the embryo did not fully separate early on.
Two-headed animals are very rare.
This is the third two-headed terrapin found on Cape Cod in five years.
Researchers monitoring diamondback terrapins found a hatchling with two heads and one body on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The species is native to salt marshes and coastal areas of the eastern United States.
The condition, called bicephaly, occurs when an embryo does not fully separate during early development.
Two-headed animals are exceptionally rare, according to the report.
The hatchling is the third bicephalic terrapin found on Cape Cod in the past five years.
- Who
- Researchers monitoring diamondback terrapins and a two-headed terrapin hatchling.
- What
- A hatchling with two heads and one body was discovered; it is the third bicephalic terrapin found on Cape Cod in five years.
- When
- The article does not give a specific discovery date; it says three such terrapins have been found in five years.
- Where
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
- Why
- The hatchling’s two heads are attributed to bicephaly, when an embryo does not fully separate during early development.
- Species
- Diamondback terrapin
- Discovery location
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts
- Condition
- Bicephaly
- Physical description
- Two distinct heads attached to a single body
- Reported rarity
- Third bicephalic terrapin found on Cape Cod in the past five years