NEW ORLEANS, La. (BRPROUD) — A beloved reptile at the Audubon Zoo has passed away.
Harvey was a two headed snake that came to the zoo in August of 2008.
Actor Nicholas Cage gave Harvey to the zoo when it was still a juvenile.
Did you know that Harvey was named after a comic book character?
According to the Audubon Zoo, “Harvey was named after Batman villain Harvey Dent (also known as “Two-Face”).”
Harvey lived in the Reptile House until his passing around the age of 14.
The zoo provided these interesting facts about Harvey:
- Both heads were fully-functional, although one was clearly more dominant than the other
- The snake had two separate brains, both heads shared a single pair of every other organ
The Audubon Zoo also also delved into how special two-headed snakes are:
It is rare for snakes to be born with two heads, and is the result of the incomplete division of twins during their embryological development. In most cases, embryos with this abnormality fail to develop and die before hatching. For those that manage to successfully hatch, it is even rarer for two-headed snakes to survive to adulthood, as many have underlying physical conditions and internal anatomical deformities that cause problems.
