Way of preciving things

[Kryos]

No big question since there is only one correct answer. It's two rats sharing one body - there was a problem during the cell seperation in the early stages of the embryos.

It's called Polycephaly and there are two girls sharing one body. Both girls are very different in preferences and wishes. It's 2 persons that can only control one body.

[Nino]

its 1 rat with 2 heads.....

[Larynx]

You're entering into the topic of "do we see humans and animals differently?, and you're close to what I want to prove, but it so happens that you're not close enough, I didn't pick them for a reason since it would have been too controversial. A rat is different.

Plus, they're not that bad, saw the documentary, they seem to live life to its fullest, I do imagine they will have problems finding men since they did say they want to marry and have kids one day, but besides that they're regular humans in personality, they just had the misfortune of being 2 in one body.

I feel very horrible, because I saw an interview with them, and I laughed when one of them said that she knew she'd find true love one day. Pretty terrible, but since when has being realistic ever not been...

[Catta]

I feel very horrible, because I saw an interview with them, and I laughed when one of them said that she knew she'd find true love one day. Pretty terrible, but since when has being realistic ever not been...

I wonder if the guy could marry them both - i mean is he legally marrying the body or the head? And if one head wants to have sex but the other doesnt then what!?

[Kryos]

I wonder if the guy could marry them both - i mean is he legally marrying the body or the head? And if one head wants to have sex but the other doesnt then what!?

It's legal since he is only married to one of the two persons that happen to live in the same body. The sex thing is something they have to negotiate with the not married part. But I don't think he/she would have accepted a marriage in the first place if the not married part hated the person.

---------- Post added 2012-06-11 at 11:16 AM ----------

I feel very horrible, because I saw an interview with them, and I laughed when one of them said that she knew she'd find true love one day. Pretty terrible, but since when has being realistic ever not been...

Chang and Eng Bunker are the siamese conjoined twins that coined the "Siamese twins" name. Both married.

When one had sex with his wife the other was reading a book. Their Traphill home is where they shared a bed built for four. Chang and his wife had 10 children; Eng and his wife had 11. You see, everything can be arranged if you really want.

[muto]

two brains one body with individual thoughts.

[Woebegone]

In all honesty, math books never taught me how to count two-headed animals. It was just apples there, so I'm kinda outside my comfort zone here.

That being said, there needs to be two genuinely separate entities, both matching the description of a rat, before I can say there's "two rats". Ergo it's one rat. Because it sure as hell ain't a new species either.

[Deleted]

2 rats or in general 2 beings.

The brains are able to think independantly that's the big thing for me.

[Xarkan]

So I will give you all a question, you should respond with the answer you think is right, and say why.

image http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/3946/twoheadedanimals01.jpg

This is a rat with 2 heads. Each had controls the 1 body. It is 1 being as it's merged, but it is 2 beings as both heads think separate. It was once 1 cell, it tried to split into 2 but didn't split fully.

Is this 1 rat or two rats or something else entirely? Why?

I am voting they are twins, siamese i think the term is?

[Deleted]

2 rats merged together. Would you call twins one person being seperated? It's the same deal with one-egg twins seperating creating 2 bodies. What happens after that is another story though.

[Deleted]

In all honesty, math books never taught me how to count two-headed animals. It was just apples there, so I'm kinda outside my comfort zone here.

Fair enough. Is this one apple or two apples (or 1.5 apples since one is smaller or a new species of fruit?):

[Frontenac]

It is one rat. Yes, it has two heads, but neither could live without the other.It remains one organism. They share the same being. The concept of "being" is not the same as the concept of "person". If it was human, it would be one human being with two personnalities.

Hum... It reminds me of the dogma of Holy Trinity in a way.

[Violent]

Two dogs? I mean the question is the same, just with a different animal.. And by the way, if you were wondering.. Yes, the pic is real.
The animal lived for a few weeks like this. They were "put" together, not born like this.

---------- Post added 2012-06-11 at 12:08 PM ----------

Fair enough. Is this one apple or two apples (or 1.5 apples since one is smaller or a new species of fruit?):

Apples have swirled skin? Looks fake to me.

[videotape]

The third choice is a bit contrived in its verbosity, but I actually kind of agree with it.

Problem is if we went around labeling every mutation as a "new species" (and we can't just arbitrarily draw a line at a two-headed mutation or something equally salient), we'd be wasting our time and essentially depriving the word "species" of any significant meaning at all.

So I'm on the fence. I like the idea of calling it a new species in theory, but beyond mental masturbation I don't really see the point.

In any case, it's a single organism by any objective biological definition. Two heads though it may have, most of its body shares the same closed system of resources and its cells operate according to the same DNA sequence. Dual-consciousness could be a successful mutation. Often times it is accompanied by other complications.

[GeordieMagpie]

1 Mutated Rat.

[Frontenac]

The third choice is a bit contrived in its verbosity, but I actually kind of agree with it.

Problem is if we went around labeling every mutation as a "new species" (and we can't just arbitrarily draw a line at a two-headed mutation or something equally salient), we'd be wasting our time and essentially depriving the word "species" of any significant meaning at all.

So I'm on the fence. I like the idea of calling it a new species in theory, but beyond mental masturbation I don't really see the point.

In any case, it's a single organism by any objective biological definition. Two heads though it may have, most of its body shares the same closed system of resources and its cells operate according to the same DNA sequence. Dual-consciousness could be a successful mutation. Often times it is accompanied by other complications.

That rat probably can reproduce with other rats, so we can hardly call it a new species just because it has two heads.

[Deleted]

Isn't this just an example of homeobox genes going wrong? The homeobox gene(s) for a head has just gone to two seperate parts of the developing foetus so the stem cells provide the blocks for another head. It's just like people growing an extra digit on the hand/foot. Personally, I'd say this is just one mutated rat.

[Deleted]

Hum... It reminds me of the dogma of Holy Trinity in a way.

Even closer to my point then ever before. No, my point is not about religion, but was going to give this as an example. And since people are getting so close, I belive it might be time to reveal my point... which I'll edit in the OP in the next hour.

[Larynx]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/ChangandEng.jpg[/IMG]
When one had sex with his wife the other was reading a book. Their Traphill home is where they shared a bed built for four. Chang and his wife had 10 children; Eng and his wife had 11. You see, everything can be arranged if you really want.

Chang and Eng Bunker didn't share the same body "part".

[Deleted]

Chang and Eng Bunker didn't share the same body "part".

Well... true that, but if they both like the guy it should work out, right? So just find two guys they both like and who like them back and... well...