This is the head of a one-eyed horse baffling scientists in Denmark - but is it a quirk of nature, or something a little more sinister?
Nicknamed 'cyclops', the foal was born in Zealand, Denmark, last summer and died immediately after.
The corpse was offered to scientists at the University of Copenhagen, who severed and preserved the head to be observed by a veterinary biology disease specialist.
Professor Henrik Elvang Jensen, from the university, believes the eye developed following a "severe malformation" of the animal's nervous system.
“People are fascinated by such defects because it reveals the diversity of biology. It shows that nature can be so strange,” he said.
“Such mutations may occur in all animals, and even humans.”
This is not the first time a cyclops foal has entered the university's collection of horrors - but the other was found more than 30 years ago.
Copenhagen University is also home to a one-eyed pig, and a four-legged duck.
Professor Jensen added: "It is a fusion of two eyes - so it contain two of several things including the pupils.
“Accidental defects are rare, and not researched. It is only when multiple defects present across a species that it attracts research attention."
The department does not know what caused the eye defect, but malformations of the central nervous system which accompany the eye mean it is not possible to find a living cyclops.
Nicknamed 'cyclops', the foal was born in Zealand, Denmark, last summer and died immediately after.
The corpse was offered to scientists at the University of Copenhagen, who severed and preserved the head to be observed by a veterinary biology disease specialist.
Professor Henrik Elvang Jensen, from the university, believes the eye developed following a "severe malformation" of the animal's nervous system.
“People are fascinated by such defects because it reveals the diversity of biology. It shows that nature can be so strange,” he said.
“Such mutations may occur in all animals, and even humans.”
This is not the first time a cyclops foal has entered the university's collection of horrors - but the other was found more than 30 years ago.
Copenhagen University is also home to a one-eyed pig, and a four-legged duck.
Professor Jensen added: "It is a fusion of two eyes - so it contain two of several things including the pupils.
“Accidental defects are rare, and not researched. It is only when multiple defects present across a species that it attracts research attention."
The department does not know what caused the eye defect, but malformations of the central nervous system which accompany the eye mean it is not possible to find a living cyclops.
Source : Mirror , University Post
Comments
Post a Comment