In 2016 a mushroom hunter discovered a conjoined white-tailed fawn in a Minnesota, US forest, is being hailed by researchers as a landmark case among oddities in nature. According to a recent study published in the science journal American Midland Naturalist, the fawns which were stillborn are believed to have been the first recorded case of a conjoined two-headed deers to have reached full term. The hunter contacted the Minnesota DNR and the fawns were frozen until a necropsy could be conducted.

Lou Cornicelli, co-author of the study and a wildlife research manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources told Fox9 said, ā€œItā€™s never been described before. There are a few reported cases of two-headed ungulate foetuses, but nothing delivered to term. So, the uniqueness made it special.ā€ According to study co-author Gino Dā€™Angelo, a researcher at the University of Georgia, lab tests including a CT scan and MRI, revealed the fawns had two separate head-neck regions which re-joined along the spine. The fawns had normal fur, heads and legs, but internally had a shared liver, extra spleens and gastrointestinal tracts.

Rare Wildlife Birth: Two-headed Conjoined Stillborn Deer

Two-headed conjoined fawns. (Photo Credits: Roger Sasser/Facebook)

Dā€™Angelo said, ā€œTheir anatomy indicates the fawns would never have been viable. Yet, they were found groomed and in a natural position, suggesting that the doe tried to care for them after delivery. The maternal instinct is very strong.ā€ Conjoined twins are commonly found in domestic animals, especially cattle and sheep but are rare in other wildlife, according to Dā€™Angelo.

The conjoined fawns have since been mounted on a bed of greenery by Wild Images in Motion Taxidermy at Minnesota DNR headquarters in St and will now be placed on public display, according to Fox9. ā€œWe all thought it was pretty neat and were glad to be able to show it to the public,ā€ Cornicelli told Fox9. ā€œThe taxidermists, Robert Utne and Jessica Brooks did a great job with the mount and treated it very respectfully.ā€ The fawns will have positioned as it was just waking up from a slumber.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 14, 2018 01:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).