Two-Headed Turtle ‘Thelma and Louise’ Hatches At San Antonio Zoo, Reptile Has ‘Split’ Personality [PHOTOS]

Free of an open highway and convertible, the San Antonio Zoo welcomed a two-headed turtle named Thelma and Louise. The female cooter, a freshwater species native to Texas, was hatched on June 18.

The turtle will go on display Thursday at the Friedrich Aquarium inside the zoo. Thelma and Louise appears to be healthy and is able to swim and walk, zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike told the Associated Press. Zoo staff doesn’t expect health problems in the future, KHOU reports.

“At this time, Thelma and Louise are doing well on exhibit and eating with both heads Craig Pelke, San Antonio Zoo reptile curator, said in a statement.

Zoo officials said the two-headed turtle has a “split” personality.

“The right side was looking around very curious, and the left side was trying to bite me,” Pelke told JewishNewsOne about handling the unusual turtle.

The turtle is one of many two-headed animals to make headlines. Back in March, a two-headed shark was discovered. In April, a two-headed pig was born in China. More recently, a two-faced cat named Deucy was born in Oregon and later died, the Oregonian reports.

In a statement, the San Antonio Zoo attributes Thelma and Louise’s two heads to a condition called bicephaly, which occurs most commonly in snakes and turtles. Much like conjoined human twins, bicephalic animals are twins that did not fully separate, resulting in two heads on one body.

This isn’t the zoo’s first bicephalic animal. In 1978, the San Antonio Zoo hosted a two-headed Texas rat snake called Janus, who died in 1995.