Mutant snake with three working eyes found in Australia
Wildlife officials in Australia have shared bizarre photos of a three-eyed snake they found on the highway.
My what three eyes you have. The better to s-see you with.
Wildlife officials in Australia have shared bizarre photos of a three-eyed snake they found on the highway.
(Credit: Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service)
The photos, shared to Facebook by the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service, were described as "peculiar" due to the formation of the skull.
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"The snake is peculiar as an x-ray revealed it was not two separate heads forged together, rather it appeared to be one skull with an additional eye socket and three functioning eyes," the Parks and Wildlife Service wrote on Facebook.
The post has gone viral, having been shared 15,000 times and accumulating nearly 10,000 comments.
It's likely that the strange development of the baby carpet python, which was approximately 15 inches in length, came about during the early embryonic stage, the Parks and Wildlife Service added.
(Credit: Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service)
"It is extremely unlikely that this is from environmental factors and is almost certainly a natural occurrence as malformed reptiles are relatively common."
Known as Monty Python, the snake died just weeks after it was found in March, park officials confirmed. "It's remarkable it was able to survive so long in the wild with its deformity and he was struggling to feed before he died last week," Ranger Ray Chatto told NT News.
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Snake expert Bryan Fry told the BBC it's likely that the third eye may be due to the snake absorbing its twin, adding that "[e]very baby has a mutation of some sort - this one is just particularly coarse and misshapen."