Scientists Aren’t Sure Why Identical Twins Differ. Armadillo Quads Offer an Answer.
By Sharon Begley,
STAT
| 12. 20. 2019
One of the armadillo quadruplets runs away when she hears Amanda Withnell approaching; her three siblings calmly keep their faces in their food bowls. Another, seemingly unable to summon the bravado you’d think would be standard equipment on a little oblong tank with feet, is a neurotic mess compared to his three mellow siblings, regularly running panicked into walls or jumping straight up like a jack-in-the-box — a patented armadillo move.
Withnell can keep track of which nine-banded armadillo quadruplet is the shy one or the neurotic one because the siblings often differ in appearance as much as they do in behavior. One has a touch of white on its left ear while the other three have it on the right; one has a symmetric blaze just above the nose while another’s blaze will tip left as if drunk.
“Among siblings, there are often differences in facial pigmentation and sometimes even in the number of vertebrae,” said biologist Frank Knight of the University of the Ozarks, one of the world’s leading experts on the nine-banded armadillo and Withnell’s husband. Differences...
Related Articles
GeneWatch UK has prepared a briefing on the genetic modification of nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025
The upcoming Congress claims to be “where the world comes together to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action.” A major concern for those on the outside is that the Congress may advance plans to develop and encourage the use of synthetic biology in nature conservation. This could at first glance sound like...
By Aaron Ginn, The Washington Post | 09.12.2025
Earlier this year, I had dinner in D.C. with Jensen Huang, the president and chief executive of Nvidia. At one point, he said something that struck me: “Why is everyone here so negative?”
He wasn’t referring to the economy...
By Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times | 08.25.2025
Scientists have dreamed for centuries about using animal organs to treat ailing humans. In recent years, those efforts have begun to bear fruit: Researchers have begun transplanting the hearts and kidneys of genetically modified pigs into patients, with varying degrees...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...