The fact that most mutants do not have particular abilities does not make them any less interesting. Consider this snake, which was discovered recently in Southwest China. You should be able to tell what distinguishes this snake from others based on the image. Specifically, the strange clawed limb protruding from its side.

Dean Qiongxiu, the woman who discovered the snake, said she found it attached to the wall of her bedroom. Qiongxiu, shocked and terrified, proceeded to beat the snake to death with her shoe before preserving the beast in an alcohol jar.

Obviously, with no independent proof and this being a natural freak from China, there’s a fair chance it’s just a skilled taxidermy prank. However, nothing in biology prevents such a mutation from occurring.

Some snakes have the remains of hips and limbs wrapped around their cloaca. Furthermore, all snake genomes include the DNA required to build a limb, thus the mutation may arise with a minor modification to the Hox genes—those that govern the body’s structural layout. Pollution has been demonstrated to trigger Hox gene changes in frogs, and given the extent of pollution in China, it’s not a huge leap of imagination to see the same thing occurring to a snake.

Scientists at West Normal University in Nanchang, China, are currently conducting an autopsy to discover whether this is a novel mutation or if this unusual chimera is fiction.

The fact that most mutants do not have particular abilities does not make them any less interesting. Consider this snake, which was discovered recently in Southwest China. You should be able to tell what distinguishes this snake from others based on the image. Specifically, the strange clawed limb protruding from its side.

Dean Qiongxiu, the woman who discovered the snake, said she found it attached to the wall of her bedroom. Qiongxiu, shocked and terrified, proceeded to beat the snake to death with her shoe before preserving the beast in an alcohol jar.

Obviously, with no independent proof and this being a natural freak from China, there’s a fair chance it’s just a skilled taxidermy prank. However, nothing in biology prevents such a mutation from occurring.

Some snakes have the remains of hips and limbs wrapped around their cloaca. Furthermore, all snake genomes include the DNA required to build a limb, thus the mutation may arise with a minor modification to the Hox genes—those that govern the body’s structural layout. Pollution has been demonstrated to trigger Hox gene changes in frogs, and given the extent of pollution in China, it’s not a huge leap of imagination to see the same thing occurring to a snake.

Scientists at West Normal University in Nanchang, China, are currently conducting an autopsy to discover whether this is a novel mutation or if this unusual chimera is fiction.

Video: