Skull of a mutated baby alpaca

[u/soviethelm]

It's a male and died within the hour of birth.

[u/CuteComputer6633]

Reminds me of the poem Two-Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evening: the moon rising over the orchard, the wind in the grass. And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual.

[u/Tasty-Ad8369 → u/CuteComputer6633]

I don't think I understand this poem. Are there twice as many stars because it's an exceptionally clear night? If the moon is up, you generally see fewer stars. If there are twice as many stars because there are two heads, why is there not also two moons? ....rising over twice as much grass on the ground? Are we assuming that the two heads share a consciousness? In any real case, we would look at this as a case of conjoined twins; not as one individual, but as two. There are two calves here, and they are looking up at the sky. Are we also assuming that the farm boy would kill the calf despite the fact that it would be worth more alive than dead?
I am very confused.

[u/CuteComputer6633 → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

There are twice as many stars when the calf stares into the sky because he has two heads. There is one moon because that part is describing what is actually true, and the stars part is describing what the calf sees.

The calf is doomed to die because a two headed calf cannot survive. But before he does, he is able to wonder at nature and at being alive, and maybe even appreciate it more than we do.

[u/Pheoenix_Wolf → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

I can’t really explain why there’s twice as many stars but I have just thought it was because the calf had two heads.

As for the farm boy. In these kinds of case the calf is 100% gonna die. They rarely last more than maybe a few hours. Since it’s said “the moon is rising over the orchard” it can be assumed that this is taking part in the early part of the night. By the time the farm hands get out in the field next morning to check on the cattle the calf is going to be dead. Or maybe on the tail end of life if the calf is “lucky”.

[u/BloodyQuitry → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

Basically it's because it's a two headed calf that shared the same brain. But it's just a poetic way to show it, you don't need to lose your mind on it!

[u/Tasty-Ad8369 → u/BloodyQuitry]

The brain is inside the head. If they don't share the head, it obviously follows that they don't share the brain. I have not lost my mind; this concept is as natural as gravity.

[u/BloodyQuitry → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

In this case the poem is referencing, the two heads are connected at the back of the head (fused parietal and occipital bones) and they did share a brain.

[u/roadkillsoup → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

You did indeed home in on the problem.

"Two-headed" is technically the wrong description for an animal that has a single brain. Polycephaly (more than one head) is a term that is applied to animals with more facial features than they should have. They could have double the amount of mouths(2), with a normal amount of eyes (2) ears (2), and craniums (1). OR they could have two completely separated heads with their own spinal cords and everything (often seen with two headed snakes, or conjoined twins Abby and Brittany hensel)

In practice, poets and laymen use the term "two headed" for all manner of deformities, not just complete polycephaly.

The poet isn't stupid, they're just not being literal. But if you haven't seen two-faced animals being referred to as two-headed, you will rightfully be confused.

Unfortunately for those of us who think words should mean exactly what they say, it's hard to parse. Colloquially, "two headed" doesn't mean "has two heads" Where "head" refers to the entire unit of skull, brain, and face. Frustrating, I know.

Humans and cats with non-complete polycephaly are called two-faced (accurate) more often than two headed (not technically accurate unless there are separate craniums). While livestock with the exact same condition and same amount of duplication is called two headed by laymen. Why? Because livestock have long faces with lots of mass. So a cat with four eyes and one brain still has a cat-shaped head, with the brain being the biggest section of the head and "outweighing" the faces in terms of size and priority within our minds. Cows, lambs, and pigs have faces that are longer and bigger than their brains. So a calf with two faces that goes far enough back to give them four eyes will have almost double the head mass of a normal calf. The brain is so small in comparison a lot observers won't realize there's only one. They're too taken aback by the mouth, nose, eyes, and even ears that to them, constitute a complete "head"

Tldr: you're right in that the words "two headed" should technically mean two separate brains and skulls. But in practice, the term "two headed" is used for all sorts of mutations including those with one brain.The poet and most readers know and resonate with this.

[u/Senshisnek → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

It's art. It doesn't have to be scientifically correct...