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To: Neeka who wrote (4429)	4/3/2002 1:01:50 PM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12231

AP News -- Zoologists Study Two - Headed Snake April 3, 2002 Zoologists Study Two - Headed Snake By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:19 a.m. ET MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Scientists studying a two-headed snake found in Spain have loads of questions: does one head boss the other around, and will the creature ever find a mate? The star attraction of the University of Valencia's zoology lab these days is a 10-inch reptile called a ladder snake (Elaphe scalaris), an ornery and fanged but non-poisonous species native to Spain, Portugal and France. A farmer in Spain's southeast Alicante province found the snake in February, and it was transferred to Valencia last week. It now lives in a terrarium, with a video camera filming every flicker of its two tongues and four eyes. So far both heads seem to work fine, and move independently, said Vicente Roca, a University of Valencia zoologist taking part in the study. The snake is about nine months old so it's too early to say if it's male or female. It is pale gray, with dark lines running from head to tail and transversal lines connecting them. Hence the name ladder, although the rungs disappear with age and the snakes turn light brown. They reach 5 feet in length. Snakes with two heads are very rare but not unheard of, Roca said, adding he knows of isolated cases in Honduras and Argentina. ``It is not as abnormal as you would think,'' he said from Valencia. Still, biologists are excited about this one. They hope to determine if the snake also has separate digestive tracts and whether one head dominates the other or the two rule in coalition. In a previous case, one of the two heads was just along for the ride, Roca said. Then there's the issue of reproduction. Roca said once this snake gets settled and its sex is determined, scientists will present it with a normal species of the opposite sex, then watch for a spark. ``You could say this one may have trouble getting a date,'' he said. Sprouting two heads results from flawed embrionic development, probably because of a genetic glitch. In the wild such snakes are less mobile and thus more vulnerable to predators, so they have shorter lives. But Roca said the one in Valencia should live a full life of four to six years as long as it adapts to captivity and eats properly. Its diet consists mainly of live crickets. Copyright 2002 The Associated Press