14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, in June 2009, two conjoined Quince monitor lizard twins were born at the Cologne Zoo in Germany. However, it wasn't until the end of 2014 that a report detailing this birth was published in the journal Herpetology Notes.
What's more, it took several weeks for folks to take an interest in this report and for the photos included in it to go viral. Well, now that this has finally happened, let's get behind the trend and talk about this rather unusual birth.
It is understood that the two reptiles, featured in the photos included in the gallery below, were born to a mother and a father Quince monitor lizard that, despite being siblings, were kept together in the same enclosure at Germany's Cologne Zoo.
The fact that their parents were related might explain why it was that the twin lizards developed to be joined at their head and in their abdominal region, and to have oddly curved spinal columns.
Thus, specialists believe that the reason these two lizards came out of their egg seriously deformed and with their internal organs out in the open for everyone to see was that, genetically speaking, their parents were too much alike.
Interestingly enough, it appears that not long after the birth of these conjoined twin lizards, their parents produced yet another malformed hatchling. This other baby lizard, born in September 2009, also died shortly after emerging from its egg.
Quince monitor lizards are native to Indonesia. They can grow to measure about 2.6 to 4 feet (0.8 meters to 1.2 meters) in length and what distinguishes them is their yellowish coloration. Because of habitat loss and the booming wildlife trade, the species is now in danger of going extinct.
