After looking at the mythological creatures which are cases of ancient mythological polycephaly in the previous post I also noticed that a lot of the cases had multiple arms and legs, as well as heads. This lead me to discovering about supernumerary body parts. What are they? Well supernumerary body parts are a surprisingly common congenital disorder involving growth of an additional part of the body, a deviation from the normal body plan. Body parts can be easily visible such as arms and legs, or can be hidden, like internal organs.
SPECIFIC TYPES
- Accessory breast - One or more extra breasts.
- Accessory spleen - One or more extra spleens.
- Cervical rib - An additional rib.
- Diphillia - Having two penises.
- Hermaphroditism - Having both sex's sex organs.
- Hyperdonita - Extra teeth.
- Polycephaly - Having and extra head.
- Polydactyly - Additional fingers or toes.
- Polymelia - An extra arm or leg.
- Polyorchidism - Having 3 or more testicles.
- Supernumerary kidney - A 3rd kidney (or in extreme cases 4+)
- Supernumerary nipples - Extra nipples.
- Supernumerary phantom limbs - Where the brain thinks/ acts as though a limb is attached to the body when it is not.
- Syndactyly - Webbing between the toes and fingers.
- Uterus didelphys - Two vaginal canals and/or unteri.
Related conditions and concepts may include...
- Vestigial structures are anatomical structures rendered almost (or even completely) un-needed since their original function due to evolution. EG. the appendix in human anatomy, muscles in ear (for movement), or the muscle that keeps the head from falling.
- A Chimera is a single organism composed of genetically distinct cells, or in other words, two different genetic beings in one body. This can result in both male and female organs, two blood types, subtle variations in form, or even different DNA to it's offspring.
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