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An octopus gets its name from having eight tentacles. But what if it has only six? Could it be called a hexapus or just a six-limbed octopus? And what about a goat with eight legs and both male and female organs? Or a frog with three heads?
10. ‘Henry,’ The Hexapus
Henry, an octopus residing at Blackpool Sealife, a British aquarium, possesses six tentacles. He was discovered off the coast of Wales and later moved to a local zoo where he joined seven other octopuses at Blackpool Sealife. His unusual mutation came to light when he attached himself to the glass of his tank. Though octopuses can regenerate lost tentacles, Henry's lack of space between them ruled out the idea of him losing one and growing it back.
Blackpool Sealife staff conducted online research and consulted with other aquariums, but none had documented a six-tentacled octopus before, making Henry the first known hexapus. While not a new species, he is a result of a genetic mutation and is technically classified as a lesser octopus. Henry's name was chosen for its alliteration with hexapus, though some believe it was inspired by King Henry VIII, who famously married six wives despite being eligible for eight.
9. ‘Octogoat,’ The Goat With Eight Legs
Zoran Poparic, a farmer from Kutjeva, Croatia, was stunned when he saw one of his goat Sarka’s kids. He had to call a neighbor to confirm that he wasn’t imagining things. The kid, named Octogoat, was born with eight legs and both male and female organs. Local vets believe Octogoat absorbed an undeveloped twin in the womb. Despite being born with two normal siblings, Octogoat was unable to stand or walk due to its extra legs, proving that having eight legs doesn’t always mean better mobility.
There was little hope that Octogoat would survive its first week, and even if it did, experts believed it would likely live only two or three years. Zoran mentioned that he would keep Octogoat as a pet if it managed to survive. The goat’s current condition remains unknown.
8. ‘Faith,’ The Dog With Two Legs
Faith was born with a brain defect that prevented her front legs from developing properly. Unable to walk, she was rejected by her mother, a homeless dog that even attempted to harm her. Faith was found by 17-year-old Reuben Stringfellow, who took her to his mother. Eventually, her front legs weakened and had to be amputated.
Left with only her two hind legs, Faith was trained to stand, walk, hop, and run. Today, she walks on her hind legs like a human. She has met several celebrities and appeared on The Oprah Show. Faith has visited military bases and hospitals, offering inspiration to injured soldiers and veterans. She was even honored as an honorary sergeant in the US Army and was considered for a role in The Goblet of Fire, the fourth Harry Potter film.
7. ‘We,’ The Albino Snake With Two Heads
Black rat snakes are typically all black, except for their white chins. However, one black rat snake named “We” is an albino with two heads and both male and female organs. In 1999, when We was only a few weeks old, it was bought by the World Aquarium in St. Louis for $15,000. Over the years, We attracted over a million visitors before passing away at the age of eight.
We, the two-headed snake, often tried to move in opposite directions simultaneously. The World Aquarium also attempted to breed it with another two-headed snake but was unsuccessful. We gained international attention in 2006 when the aquarium tried to auction it for $150,000. Although the auction failed, We was adopted by Nutra Pharma, a biotech company specializing in HIV and multiple sclerosis treatments.
Two-headed snakes generally have low survival rates in the wild due to their heads competing for food. In some cases, the heads even attempt to eat one another. There is only one known two-headed black snake that survived for 20 years.
6. ‘Froggy,’ The Frog With Three Heads
While mutant frogs are not entirely unheard of, a frog with three heads is incredibly rare. In 2004, a mutant frog with three heads and six legs was found in the garden of Green Umbrella Nursery in the UK. The discovery occurred when a student, who had just been dropped off at the nursery on a Thursday morning, noticed it. Initially, the students thought it was three frogs cuddling together, but they were shocked to learn it was just one frog.
The staff at the nursery captured the frog and placed it in a tank, but by the next morning, it had escaped. Froggy's eyes and legs seemed to function normally, but it remains unclear whether its three mouths worked as expected. A professor of biology at the Open University noted that while mutant frogs have been documented for over 200 years, one with three heads and six legs is unprecedented. The mutation might have been caused by parasites, pollution, or genetic mutation. Some speculate that the mutation could be linked to the nearby decommissioned Hinkley nuclear power station, which is 19 kilometers (12 miles) away from Green Umbrella Nursery.
5. Squittens
Squittens, a combination of the words 'squirrel' and 'kitten,' were once believed to be the result of a squirrel mating with a cat. This misconception arose because of their short front paws, which make them often stand on their hind legs, much like squirrels. In truth, squittens are simply cats with a condition known as radial hypoplasia (RH), which prevents their front legs from fully developing. In mild cases of RH, the cats can still use their front paws to hop like rabbits. In moderate cases, they move using their hind legs and may even use their tails for balance, resembling kangaroos. In the most severe cases of RH, the cats rely completely on their hind legs for movement and stand upright, resembling squirrels. They are sometimes called 'dinosaur cats' or 'kangaroo cats.'
Squittens face challenges when it comes to climbing, particularly when coming down from trees. They also struggle with descending stairs, and some are even seen going down backwards. One squitten, named Kanga, was born alongside three healthy kittens. Kanga also suffers from megaesophagus, meaning she must eat while standing because she has trouble swallowing. Another squitten, Petal, lives with her adoptive owner in New Yorkshire, England, along with another squitten named Honey.
4. 'Rudy,' The Two-Headed Pig
A pig named Rudy had two heads, two snouts, two ears, and three eyes. The central eye, where the two heads meet, was blind. Rudy was bought for $5,000 by the animal rescue group Pigs Without Partners, who renamed the pig Ditto. Only one of Ditto's snouts was functional, and it had to wear a small helmet to prevent injury in case it fell over.
Ditto faced difficulties walking throughout its life and needed a special walker to move around. It had only begun learning to use its two front legs when it passed away in 1998, just two months after being rescued. Before its death, Ditto became unstable and frequently fell to its left side. Its face was preserved for research purposes related to facial deformities in children. A similar pig, born with the same condition, appeared in Jiujiang, China in 2003.
3. 'Frank And Louie,' The Two-Faced Cat
Frank and Louie are two-faced cats, born with one head and three eyes due to a rare mutation known as diprosopia, or craniofacial duplication. This condition causes animals (or humans) to develop two faces on a single head. Such cats are often referred to as 'Janus cats,' named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions, gates, and doorways, who is depicted with two faces. While this mutation has been observed in cats before, most do not survive beyond a few days. However, Frank and Louie celebrated their 12th birthday on September 8, 2011, securing their place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest Janus cats.
Frank and Louie are cared for by Marty Stevens, a veterinary technician who adopted them after their previous owner brought them to the clinic where she worked, intending to have them euthanized. The cats share one brain, but their middle eye—the largest one—does not function. They eat using Frank's face, as Louie’s face lacks a lower jaw and is not connected to their esophagus.
2. Polydactyl Cats
Polydactylism refers to having more toes than usual. While most cats have five toes on their front paws and four on the back, polydactyl cats have extra toes. Jake, a male tabby from Canada, holds the record for the most toes in a cat—28 in total, with seven on each foot. The condition, meaning 'many-fingered,' is more common in cats from England, Wales, Eastern US, and Canada than anywhere else. Polydactyl cats gained fame thanks to writer Ernest Hemingway, and they are sometimes called 'Hemingway cats.' Due to their extra toes, they often have large, distinctive feet, which leads to names like 'snowshoe paws' or 'pancake feet.'
Around 30 of the 60 cats living at Hemingway’s estate today are polydactyl. Even President Theodore Roosevelt had a polydactyl cat named Slippers. Unlike many genetic mutations, polydactylism is beneficial to cats. Their extra toes are not just a quirky feature—they’ve been known to help the cats open windows and latches. People are particularly fond of the unique appearance of polydactyl cats.
1. ‘Kenny,’ The White Tiger
Kenny was a white tiger who, along with his brother Willie, an orange-coated tiger, was rescued by Turpentine Creek Wildlife Reserve in Arkansas in 2000. Kenny had a mental disability and a deformed face, which prevented him from closing his mouth properly. Willie, on the other hand, was cross-eyed. Both brothers were the result of sibling breeding by a breeder who intended to produce a white tiger. However, after encountering difficulties selling them due to their deformities, the breeder abandoned them.
White tigers do not occur naturally. They can only be bred through close interbreeding across generations, hoping for the right mutation. Unfortunately, most white tigers are born with health issues and physical deformities. The mutation that causes their white coat also miswires their optic nerves, leading to cross-eyed vision. Additionally, white tigers often face issues like cleft palates, club feet, weakened immune systems, and spinal or organ deformities. Many white tigers are stillborn, and those who survive often die young. Kenny, the white tiger, passed away from cancer in 2008.
2. ‘Stumpy,’ The Four-Legged Duck
Stumpy, a four-legged duck, was born at Warrawee Duck Farm in the UK in 2007. The two extra legs were not functional for walking and instead hung behind its main legs, helping it stay stable when younger. After birth, Stumpy was kept in a pen because its owner was concerned that the extra legs might get caught in shrubs. Unfortunately, one of the extra legs got stuck in a fence and had to be removed. The second leg turned black and fell off, leaving Stumpy with two stumps where the extra legs had been.
