ANIMALS

Two-Headed Tortoise, Believed to be the Oldest in the World, Celebrates 25th Birthday and Achieves World Record

Janus, the Turtle with Two Heads, Possesses Two Unique Personalities

Despite having two heads with distinct personalities, Janus is known by a single name.

For more than twenty years, Janus, the turtle with two heads, has amazed people with its unique appearance.

Now, Janus, the oldest living two-headed turtle holding a world record, is celebrating its 25th birthday.

Janus was born in 1997 at the Geneva Natural History Museum in Switzerland. Today, he proudly serves as the museum’s official mascot.

He possesses two hearts and two sets of lungs.

Both of Janus’ heads use the same digestive system. The head on the right controls the legs on the right side of his shell, while the head on the left controls the legs on the left side.

“His movements are not fully coordinated, the two heads do not always agree on the direction and sometimes try to take opposite directions,” Bourgoin told euronews.

Janus also has two distinct personalities. According to his caretaker, Angelica Bourgoin, one of Janus’ heads is definitely more inclined towards being greedy compared to the other.

“The right head is more curious, more awake, it has a much stronger personality. The left head is more passive and loves to eat,” Bourgoin told Reuters.

Bourgoin and her team believe that Janus is the oldest two-headed tortoise in the world.

Janus would not be able to survive in the wild because he cannot pull his heads back into his shell.

Due to his inability to retract his heads into his shell, Janus cannot hide from predators, which is essential for survival in the wild. As a result, he now enjoys a comfortable life as a well-cared-for turtle. His diet consists solely of organic produce, with one of his heads having a preference for endives and the other for carrots.

Happy birthday Janus !! 🐢🥳🥰🎉 pic.twitter.com/SD5F18jLPv

— museum.geneve (@MuseumGeneve) September 3, 2022

Janus is treated to daily massages and enjoys soothing baths with green tea and chamomile. He takes regular walks to stay active and also finds joy in listening to music, which uplifts his spirits.

Sometimes, Janus likes to have some fun and ride around on his specially designed-skateboard, showing off his cool side.

“I think it’s because of the attention we give him and our devotion that he’s still here today,” said Bourgoin.

The one thing Janus doesn’t have is privacy. He is constantly monitored to ensure he doesn’t accidentally turn over.

This could be extremely dangerous for Janus and even potentially fatal.

Janus is a resilient fighter. He has already overcome a bladder stone surgery in 2020. Occasionally, he requires the application of petroleum jelly on his heads for comfort.

Janus experiences discomfort when his heads rub against each other. According to ZME Science, Janus belongs to the Greek spur-thighed tortoise species.

These tortoises have a remarkable lifespan, often exceeding 120 years and sometimes reaching up to 200 years in their natural habitats.

However, when kept as pets in captivity, their lifespan is significantly reduced to around 50 or 100 years.

Even though Janus belongs to the Greek tortoise species, he is named after the Roman god.

Janus is a Roman deity known for having two faces and representing various aspects such as beginnings, transitions, and endings. According to information from Wikipedia, Janus is associated with gates, doorways, duality, and other similar concepts.

Watch the Video here:

Sources: Euronews / Reuters

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.