Two-Headed Texas River Cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle Ambassador

Summary: The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle is the San Antonio Zoo's 13-month, world-respected turtle conservation ambassador, 2013-2014.

Thelmaandlouise (top); Thelmaandlouise with a sibling (lower left); (lower right) Thelmaandlouise size comparison and carapace width measurement: San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo, via Facebook June 26, 2013

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The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle allowed turtle enthusiasts and testudine experts 13-month access to the behavioral aspects and the physical appearances of the reptile world's rare affirmation of animal bicephaly.

The Latin bis ("twice") and the Greek cephalia ("head") become bicephaly in scientific, and two-headedness in conversational, English and broker necked, neckless, opposite-ended or side-by-side double-headedness. Celebrated, contemporary claims to bicephalic turtles concern the two-headed Texas river cooter that carries the name Louise for the left head and Thelma for the right. Jared Ettinger for The Mary Sue June 27, 2013, described the duo as each displaying "their own personality. One is very curious, the other very aggressive."

San Antonio Zoo's enigmatic exhibit expired June 29, 2014, after educating and entertaining staff and visitors since June 25, 2013, seven days after birth June 18.

The Facebook celebrity page Thelmaandlouise Turtle's post July 29, 2014, "The San Antonio Zoo is saddened over the loss of Thelma and Louise," furnished few details.

Staff from San Antonio Zoo's Richard Friedrich Aquarium generalized that "despite having great vigor in her daily life, her last few months showed lack of growth." The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle page hailed her as having "daily intensive care and monitoring to ensure she received the highest quality of life." It indicated, without imparting specific information about food chains and temperature ranges, that "This [care] included the daily monitoring of her water quality, lighting, and feeding."

Texas river cooter Thelmaand louise Turtle juggled "a typical neonate turtle life actively swimming in her enclosure, an ample varied diet, and a good basking spot."

The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle knew Richard Henry Friedrich's (Aug. 7, 1888-Sep. 8, 1962) namesake aquarium as birthplace and home with two one-headed siblings.

"[H]undreds of" first-birthday cards looked onto her tank within the aquarium on San Antonio Zoo's 57-acre (23.07-hectare) grounds since 1948 in Brackenridge Park, Midtown San Antonio. Colonel George Washington Brackenridge (Jan. 14, 1832-Dec. 28, 1920) made the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle's one-and-only home possible within a 343.7-acre (1.391-square-kilometer) public park. He named 199 acres (80.53 hectares) over to San Antonio in 1899 and nestled bison, deer, elk, monkeys, two lions and four bears there in 1914.

Michael Bowlin for The Kerrville Daily Times April 12, 1992, offered Friedrich as businessman with "a lifelong interest in wildlife" and San Antonio Zoological Society President.

Friedrich piloted exotic deer, Kentucky saddle horse and longhorn cattle presences on Bear Creek Ranch in central-southwest Texas's Hill Country and the Friedrich Aquarium's exotic fishes.

Friedrich's clean, small-scale aquarium queued up the quintessentially enigmatic, quizzically exotic animal with the two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle, world-famous celebrity by June 23, 2013. Its world-respected two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle remains "quite the mystery" for her embryo refraining from twinning-processed, two-body separations and her physique resisting continued growth. Environmental stress seems less likely than internal since an environmentalist from a local family savvily successful in refrigeration and temperature control started San Antonio's Friedrich Aquarium.

The two-headed Texas river cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle Facebook page tributes a "tiny, yet giant, turtle conservation ambassador" since "turtles and tortoises suffer the worse [worldwide] fate."

open-mouthed Louise (left) and close-mouthed Thelma (right): Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook July 30, 2013

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Thelmaandlouise (top); Thelmaandlouise with a sibling (lower left); (lower right) Thelmaandlouise size comparison and carapace width measurement: San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo, via Facebook June 26, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/SanAntonioZoo/photos/a.10151689796811539.1073741831.406923321538/10151689797151539/

open-mouthed Louise (left) and close-mouthed Thelma (right): Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle, via Facebook July 30, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/152697078267408/

For further information:

Baur, G. (George). 1893. "Notes on the Classification and Taxonomy of the Testudinata. Read . . . May 5, 1893: Pseudemys texana, sp. nov." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. XXXI (January-December 1893): 223-224. Philadelphia PA: Printed for the Society by MacCalla & Company, 1893.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7219903
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofamep31amer#page/223/mode/1up

Bowlin, Michael. 12 April 1992. "Patio Ranch Once Boasted 'Blind Service' for Hungry Hunters." Kerrville TX: The Kerrville Times.
Available @ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/18980405/

Buhlmann, Kurt A. "Cooter Turtles." Reptiles Magazine > Turtles & Tortoises > Turtle Care.
Available @ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Turtles-Tortoises/Turtle-Care/Cooter-Turtles/

Cook, Joe. 29 July 2014. "San Antonio Zoo's Two-Headed Turtle Dies." San Antonio Express-News > News > Local.
Available @ https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/SA-Zoo-s-two-headed-turtle-dies-5654753.php

Ettinger, Jared. 27 June 2013. "Two-Headed Turtle Born at San Antonio Zoo, Probably Not a Ninja." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/two-headed-turtle/

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 August 2014. "Two-Headed River Cooter Thelmaandlouise Turtle Artwork June 2014." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/two-headed-river-cooter-thelmaandlouise.html

San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo. 17 June 2014. "Not only will we be celebrating the Spurs' championship win tomorrow...we'll be celebrating a VERY special birthday! . . . ." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/SanAntonioZoo/photos/a.417991171538.212061.406923321538/10152444970256539/

San Antonio Zoo @SanAntonioZoo. 26 June 2013. "Thelma and Louise were part of a quartet of Texas cooters hatched at the Zoo on June 18, 2013." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/SanAntonioZoo/photos/a.10151689796811539.1073741831.406923321538/10151689797151539/

Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle. 29 July 2014. "The San Antonio Zoo is saddened over the loss of Thelma and Louise." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/273751446161970/

Thelmaandlouise Turtle @thelmaandlouise.turtle. 30 July 2013. "Thanks to Paul Garcia for this photo!" Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/thelmaandlouise.turtle/photos/a.152458384957944.1073741826.152454174958365/152697078267408/

Tickle, Glen. 29 July 2013. "Everyone Loves a Two-Headed Turtle, But Now You Can Like One on Facebook." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/double-turtle-facebook/

Tickle, Glen, 29 July 2014. "Two-Headed Turtle 'Thelma and Louise' Dies at San Antonio Zoo After Living More Than a Year." The Mary Sue.
Available @ https://www.themarysue.com/thelma-and-louise-now-dead/

Virata, John. 27 June 2013. "Two-Headed Texas River Cooter Born at San Antonio Zoo." Reptiles Magazine > News > 2013/06/27.
Available @ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-News/2013/06/27/Two-Headed-Turtle-Born-At-San-Antonio-Zoo/

Virata, John. 1 August 2014. "Two-Headed Turtle Thelma and Louise Dies." Reptiles Magazine > Turtles & Tortoises > Information & News.
Available @ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Turtles-Tortoises/Information-News/Two-Headed-Turtle-Thelma-and-Louise-Dies/

Wilke, Hartmut. 2009. Aquatic Turtles. A Complete Pet Owner's Manual. Hauppauge NY: Barron's Educational Series Inc.