THE CONJOINED PORPOISES
The photos showed that the porpoises' tails had not stiffened, which indicates that they died shortly after birth, according to Dr Kompanje.
Researchers hope that the finding will help to fill a huge gap in the understanding of twinning in aquatic mammals – something that has only been observed ten times worldwide.
They also had a flat dorsal fin – something that would have stiffened if they were alive – and hairs on the upper lip, which would have fallen out.
Partial twinning can happen in one of two ways - two initially separate embryonic discs can fuse together or the zygote can only partially split during the early development process.
The researchers are unsure which way the porpoises joined together.
And if there are other conjoined cetaceans twins in the wild, finding them will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Dr Kompanje added: 'Conjoined twins will be more common than the 10 cases we know at this moment, but we are unaware of them because they are born at sea and are never found.'
Source: dailymail
