In a historic moment for veterinary science, a beautiful grey Irish Wolfhound has given birth to the first scientifically proven identical twin dogs, finally settling a long-standing debate among researchers. The twin puppies, aptly named Romulus and Cullen, have become a landmark case, confirming that dogs can indeed host monozygotic twins.
The momentous birth took place via Caesarean section in 2014 at the Rant en Dal Animal Hospital in South Africa. Veterinarian Dr. Kurt de Cramer, who has performed hundreds of C-sections, made the initial discovery. He was astounded to find two male puppies attached to a single placenta, an occurrence he had never witnessed before.
While twins are common in dogs, they are almost always fraternal, born from separate eggs. The shared placenta immediately raised a suspicion of identical twinning. To confirm his hunch, Dr. de Cramer collaborated with reproductive specialists Carolynne Joonè of James Cook University in Australia and Johan Nöthling from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
The researchers took blood samples from the puppies when they were two weeks old and performed extensive genetic profiling. The results were conclusive: the DNA profiles of Romulus and Cullen were identical at all 40 genetic markers. The findings were later published in the journal Reproduction in Domestic Animals.
The discovery is a monumental breakthrough, as identical twinning is incredibly rare in most species, with humans and nine-banded armadillos being notable exceptions. “There have been rumours about twins in dogs before,” said Carolynne Joonè, “We just happened to be lucky enough to be able to confirm it genetically.”
This historic case not only adds dogs to the exclusive list of animals known to produce identical twins but also sheds new light on canine reproduction and the complexities of mammalian biology.
