Tarantulas With Two Abdomens?

Spepper

Arachnodemon
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I don't own any tarantulas, so I feel almost guilty posting here, but has anyone heard of/seen/owned one of these? I stumbled across a picture of a double-abdomened tarantula on accident and my mouth dropped open, so I clicked on it and it led me to this site. My first thought: how is this even possible? :o_O:

http://tarantulas.tropica.ru/en/node/614
 

Beary Strange

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Aug 30, 2013
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Well, tarantulas seem to have the potential for twinning just like any other animal and therefore the same potential for conjoined twins, which is what that is; the double abdomen seems to be the most common way it's expressed. I've seen at least one (I think Robc's P.irminia-will check in a bit) that almost had their own bodies but were still conjoined. Ceratogyrus has an amazing looking double folio'd Poec that some believe to be like this, only a more mild version of the condition.

Edit: Here's Robc's twins:
[YOUTUBE]WsSHv8SEbCY[/YOUTUBE]
 
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Spepper

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That's very interesting Belle Fury, thank you. For some reason I thought it wasn't just twins that were almost separated. I guess because there weren't two heads it never occurred to me. LOL
 

viper69

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That T in the OP was likely due to breeding hybrids.
 

klawfran3

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Ceratogyrus has an amazing looking double folio'd Poec that some believe to be like this, only a more mild version of the
Speaking of that, I haven't heard anything about the spider in a while. Care to update ceratogyrus, if it isn't much trouble?
 

Formerphobe

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That T in the OP was likely due to breeding hybrids.
I would think inbreeding would be more suspect than hybridization; however, there is no scientific evidence, to my knowledge, to support such consequences with either inbreeding or hybridization.
I have heard and seen pictures of CB non-hybridized tarantula slings with double abdomens. Knowing at least one of the breeders of such, there were no hybrids involved. Another consideration is unintentional chemical and/or hormone exposure.
 

Ceratogyrus

Arachnobaron
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She matured and the other male with the shortened folio also matured and I managed to mate them. :)

 

MarkmD

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There's a big chance that it's caused by inbreeding same as hybrids, but also can happen within the same eggsac as they can merge by (genetics/genomes etc) as two become one, not exactly sure but all are credible answers and possible.
 

Tongue Flicker

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can mutation from radiation be a factor as well? I've read that in the wild, double-headed reptiles in Australia is common due to the huge amounts of radiation from their depleted ozone layer.
 

viper69

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I would think.....to my knowledge....another consideration....
I would think to my knowledge another consideration is that you didn't read the text contained within the link before refuting my statement! You should have read the link hahahah, TSK TSK ;)

If you have, then you must think the breeder was a liar, based on what you wrote.
 
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Formerphobe

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I would think to my knowledge another consideration is that you didn't read the text contained within the link before refuting my statement! You should have read the link hahahah, TSK TSK ;)

If you have, then you must think the breeder was a liar, based on what you wrote.
I read the link. Did you read what I wrote? I said there was no scientific evidence supporting either hybridization or inbreeding as a cause for such defects. The fact that the defects have reportedly occurred in both hybrids and pure strains suggests that there are other factors involved.
 

viper69

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I read the link. Did you read what I wrote? I said there was no scientific evidence supporting either hybridization or inbreeding as a cause for such defects. The fact that the defects have reportedly occurred in both hybrids and pure strains suggests that there are other factors involved.
I read your post completely previously. Well to be objective, you could be ABSOLUTELY right about other factors, however, it could very well be this was caused by hybridization. The same end result can often be caused by different mechanisms.
 

klawfran3

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She matured and the other male with the shortened folio also matured and I managed to mate them. :)

double folio power! I really hope that these are just color mutations and we get something really sweet out of it!
 
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