When the bats were discovered under a mango tree in the country’s south-east, they were thought to be stillborn and still had the placenta attached.

Marcelo Nogueira, from the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, said: “We believe the mother of these twins was roosting in this tree when she gave 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡.

“It is our hope that cases like this will encourage more studies on Bat embryology, an open and fascinating field of research that can largely benefit from material already available in scientific collections.”

Conjoined animals are poorly understood, and only one in every 200,000 human 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡s involves conjoined twins.

Human survival rates are roughly 15%, but animal survival rates are estimated to be suBstantially lower.

Male Bats have separate heads and necks, but their spines eventually blend into one, according to an X-ray.

They also have two separate but similar size hearts.

The twins’ entire width, including wingspan, is approximately 13cm.

Based on their physical characteristics the scientists determined they were most likely ‘ΑrtiBeus’ bats.