I bet that I fooled most of you with this title. You are probably wondering by now, what the heck this article is going to be about. Those of you that know Latin probably know already. I didn't know what it meant when I first saw it, so for those that don't, it means many headed. It usually refers to animals and people that are born with more than one head, which usually means two heads, on those rare birth occasions. While, as I said, it usually means having two heads, there are cases of of at least animals being born with more than two heads. It case you think that this is a recent phenomenon, scientists have found a fossil of a Hyphalosaurus Lingyuanensis, more commonly known as a Hyphalosaurus. I guess dinosaur is the best way to describe it. The fossil was over 120 million years old. This particular animal lived in the water. This was not a very big dinosaur, being only 50 inches long, or a little over four feet. I guess it was more the size of a big dog.

When an animal, or even a human for that matter has two heads, the question comes up, it is one or two distinct creatures. In the case of an animal, it may be a little harder to answer this question. An animal and a human both require cooperation to function if they are sharing one body. In the case of an animal you might get the two heads fighting for dominance. One animal head wants to do what it wants, while the other wants the same thing. This could eventually lead to the demise of the creature. There are many cases on record of cattle with two heads, lizards, birds and such. Some ancient people believed that animals that had two heads were gods. If we look at some of the ancient gods, we notice that there is a two headed eagle, for example. Some standards displayed two headed animals on them as armies went into battle. The two headed eagle was also a symbol of the powerful Byzantine Empire, for hundreds of years. In Medieval times the two headed eagle on a shield represented the joining of forces. It was usually mounted on a field of blue. The blue represented truth and loyalty. The double headed eagle has been a very popular symbol over the centuries. A few places that you can find it in are the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Austria, and the Russian Empire, to mention a few.

When an animal is born with this condition it is an oddity, but when a human is born this way, it is sad indeed. Some people have been born in such a way that they could be separated, but they usually had almost totally separate bodies. When two heads are sharing one body, there is nothing that we can do about this at our stage of technology. Hopefully this will change in the future. In the animal world, we probably get more reports of two headed kittens than anything else. This is thought to be because they are observed in the home when they are pets. It is different for animals in the wild. Some of these cats have two faces, rather than two full heads. It is probably a numbers game, for every so many births, you get one with this condition. There are a awful lot of cattle being born all over the world and there have been some that have had two heads. There seems to be quite a few around for viewing. If you live near the Georgia State Capital Building in Atlanta, you will find one there. Some other locations that have one are the Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut, the Ripley Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Melton Mowbray museum in Leicestershire, in the U. K.

You will find animals with two heads in almost every kind of different species. Sometimes these animals live for quite a while. There was a two headed rat snake that lived for over twenty years. There is an awful lot of talk about multi headed creatures in Greek Mythology. It is said that Hercules slew the Hydra, which was a multi headed creature that resembled a dragon with many heads. The Greeks talked about the Nemean Lion, a creature that had multiple heads, Orthrus, which was a two headed dog, Ladon, which was said to be a serpent with a hundred heads and Chimera, which sometimes had the head of a goat and the head of a lion. I have only mentioned a few, there were a lot more animals that were multi headed in ancient Greek myths. The ancient Greeks were not the only ones to have myths about multi headed creatures, they also appear in myths in Hungary, Romania, Rome, Egypt, Japan, Ireland and India. These are not the only countries to have these myths, but are representative of countries that do. The Slavic people also have many myths about multi headed creatures, such as the Triglav, Zmey Gorynych and Svantevit.

Maybe some day, as we get out into space and discover other races, we will find a race of beings where having two heads is a natural occurrence and not a fluke of nature? Since these things have been shown to happen with humans, we know that it is possible. As a matter of fact, there have been a few people that were born this way in the last twenty years or so, that we know about. There a probably a lot more that we never hear of. They could be born in remote villages, or in areas that don't have a communication network. They could even be hidden in homes, somewhere by people that are backward and are more concerned about what people will think, than the welfare of their offspring. There are people that are leading as normal a life as one can, that have two heads on one body. A very famous case is that of the Hensels. Britany and Abigail were born in 1990. Each person, they are two people with two brains, controls the side of the body that their head is on. They have three lungs, two hearts and two spinal cords, but share all other organs between them. They are able to walk and even run. They play the piano. When they were born they had the beginning of a third arm, this was amputated. If it wasn't for the fact that there were two heads on one body, you would have to say that these girls are perfectly adjusted. They attended Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota. They are remarkable girls and the world is better off for having them.

Some of the other humans that have been born with two heads include

Ayse and Sema, who were born in 2000 in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. These children are different from the Hensels, in that one looks like a normal child with a chest, head and arm coming out from under his armpit. This is actually his brother.
Sohna and Mohna were born in 2003, in India. They look similar to Ayse and Sema, but one twin is coming our of the other's side at a ninety degree angle. An Indian Association has adopted them and is caring for them.
Rebeca Martinez was born in the Dominican Republic, in 2004. She had two heads, but died a few hours later.
Manar Mohamed was born in 2005, in Egypt. She had the head and torso of a second child attached to her body. Surgery was performed and one child survived.
Syafitri was born in Indonesia in 2006, but died.
Mary Grace Asis and Mary Divine Asis were born in 2007 in the Philippines with only one heart.