Wednesday, November 17, 2010

All Hail the Nine-Banded Armadillo

According to the article Monochorionicity in perspective,
"Indeed, the human and the nine-banded armadillo are the only known mammals that produce monozygotic gestations, although some species occasionally deliver a two-headed or six-legged offspring."
Not content with producing monozygotic ("identical") twins, the nine-banded armadillo's normal means of reproduction is actually identical quadruplets.

Unfortunately, the quote from the article appears to be...what's the word?...wrong.  For example, here is an article (with the impressive title "Monstrous Dolphins") referencing identical twin dolphins.

I'm reading through the scientific literature for an upcoming blog post on factors influencing twinning rates and finding some truly bizarre stuff.

Friday, November 5, 2010

To be sung to the tune of The Chanukkah Song by Adam Sandler

They celebrate twinships in Twinsburg Ohio
Identical twins from one egg, Fraternal from two, right?
Instead of raising one at a time you have crazy days and nights!

When as a twin you're robbed of individual attention
Remember all the famous twins, whom we will now mention:
Scarlett Johansson has a twin brother,
If you’ve ever heard of him I’ll give you a dollar.
We’ve got identical twins Ann Landers and Dear Abby,
BranGelina’s got fraternal twins…not too shabby.
Tiki Barber’s twin—Ronde—plays for the Buccaneers
Tiki’s on Today, making his own bucks and sneers.
Linda Hamilton’s identical twin Leslie played Sarah Connor’s double,
Frat twins Mary Kate and Ashley play off each other’s wardrobes.
Lacy and Lindsey Love star in porn movies,
Alicia and Annie Sorrel write Movie blurbs for Si TV.
The Simpsons have two sets of twins: Sherri and Terri, Selma and Patty.
The Weasleys have George and Fred—twin redheadys.

Quartennary Marriage is when twins marry twins
That’s just weird, you might say
But everybody wins when everyone's twinning.
Bananas in Pyjamas are twins like no others
I can’t tell if they’re sisters, or really close brothers.
Alanis Morrisette's twin is Wade
The Barbi twins look fake
At least they all parade
For those sweet baby seals.

Jeena tried to kill her identical sis,
But Sunny Han survived it
Jeena wanted to steal her identity
Shoulda been easy....

Tom Cruise… not a twin...but claims his next kids will be
It will be a tough on Katie, giving birth naturally.
Actress Jill Hennessy is of Law & Order,
Her twin Jacqueline hosts TV in Toronto.
Kirk had an evil twin, so did Spock and Uhura
Except for the goatees it was like looking in a mirror.
The world’s oldest twins, Raymonde and Lucienne Wattelade
say liquor keeps them youthful, they still drink at ninety-eight….

So drink your tonic and gin
To be a happy, happy twin.
Eat what you like, or stay thin
If you really wanna win,
Be a happy happy happy happy twin!