Nature is full of wild and wonderful things.
You never know the things that she will dream up! Seeing some of the crazy creatures is often a good reminder of the weirdness of life here on earth. Whether it’s a glowing jellyfish or an iridescent bird, we can all appreciate it when mother nature gets creative.
One turtle is a product of those “creative liberties”.
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Janus is a Greek tortoise who has a birthday coming up soon! While most tortoises’ birthdays don’t get news coverage, Janus is special for a few reasons – two, to be exact.
Janus is a two-headed tortoise!
Two-headed animals are very rare in the animal world. Known as “polycephaly,” the term means to have more than one head. It is most commonly found in turtles and snakes but can be found in sheep, pigs, dogs, and fish.
In cases where multiple heads are fully developed and non-parasitic, they share control of the organs and limbs, though the specific structure of the connections varies. Animals often move in a disoriented and dizzy fashion, with the brains “arguing” with each other; some animals simply zig-zag without getting anywhere.[15] Snake heads may attack and even attempt to swallow each other. Thus, polycephalic animals survive poorly in the wild compared to normal monocephalic animals.
Since these animals often don’t make it to adulthood, Janus’s birthday is all the more special.
Janus will officially be 23-years-old! Born in 1997, Janus has officially lived through some of the craziest things in the world (looking at you, global pandemic). She was born in Geneva, Switzerland at their Museum of Natural History and became famous soon after.
Janus eventually became the museum’s mascot and one of its main attractions!
Since these types of animals are so rare, people love to see little Janus hanging about. She eventually created so much attention that the museum decided to make her the official mascot.
Have you caught on to her name yet?
Janus was named very specifically, if you didn’t know. Named after a Roman god, Janus was the god of beginnings, gates, and transitions. He was usually known to represent duality, and as a result, people drew him with two faces! He had one face looking into the future and the other into the past.
Maybe Janus will be able to tell us the future one day.
Since Janus is such an old tortoise (at least by the two-headed standard), maybe she will develop the gift of telling the future. Does anyone speak turtle, by chance?
She has a big birthday celebration planned.
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Since this is such a big milestone for Janus, she has to have a big party planned, right? Maybe the museum will give her some extra lettuce that day. If she is super lucky, she might even get a chance to have a grape or two. It’s a known fact that turtles love grapes. She might be two-faced, but she is as gentle as can be!
Happy birthday, Janus!
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