DINO AND FOSSIL NEWS 

(Update, Jan. 23 2007)    It's the first fossil of its kind ever discovered, even though it's fairly common in modern day reptiles such as snakes and turtles.  French scientist Eric Buffetant of Paris' Center For National Scientific Research recently revealed the finding of the first known two-headed fossil reptile.

Known scientifically as Hyphalosaurus lingyuanensis, it was a reptile but not a dinosaur, known as a choristodere, a link to various other species.  Some of them looked like modern lizards or crocodiles, while others resembled plesiosaurs, the long-necked creatures most often rumored to be the legendary Loch Ness Monster.  The fossil,   barely over three inches long, shows remarkable detail, including the fact that it had well developed legs and a long tail, as well as prominent eye sockets.  It enabled a member of the original expedition in northeastern China to make an accurate reconstruction of the animal as it would have appeared when alive, although it's being speculated that this specimen may have either died shortly after birth or never hatched.

This Hyphalosaurus is figured to have lived about 120 million years ago, at the height of dinosaur proliferation.  It was found in China's Yixian Formation, an area rich in feathered dinos and raptors.  The normal known Hyphalosaurus specimens are believed to have reached a length of about three feet when mature.  The two-headed phenomenon is referred to as axial bifurcation, and occurs when an embryo is damaged and body parts split.  The most common type of this event is found in snakes and lizards with two tails, although having two heads is not that rare in snakes, several cases being reported every year.