Fact or Fiction?

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:13 am

The story about this one-eyed kitten was all over a while back, but I can't remember if anything was confirmed or if it was a hoax.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:16 am

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/cyclopes.asp

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:18 am

I say hoax. The kit's body is very newborn-looking, so aside from the issue that it ought to have a newborn cat's blue eye(s), the eye(s) would normally be shut, yet.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:19 am

It's true. The kitten was born with a birth defect called cyclopia --

Urban Legends Reference Pages wrote:Cyclopia (or synophthalmia) is a birth defect in which a normally two-eyed animal is born with only a single fused eye, generally disproportionately large and centered on the face above the area where the nose would usually appear. Typically in cyclopic births the nose is either absent or present as an appendage located above the single eye. (Eyelids are also generally absent in such births, which explains why the eye of the one-day-old kitten pictured above is open even though cats are usually born with their eyes shut and remain in that condition for the first week or two of their lives.)

Read the entire article here.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:26 am

If you guys aren't having a party at the expense of my credulity, then all I can say is poor little kitten.

What are the odds for such a birth?

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:31 am

Thanks. Snopes and Urban Legends come through again. I've got them bookmarked this time. So sad.

Did you see that link to the one-eyed baby goat on Snopes? Has any human cyclops ever been know to exist? And is there any kind of history here about the one eye and other human beleifs? I mean...what did people (historically) feel or interpret this as when cyclops were first discovered?

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:52 am

I think the cyclops condition has been documented in humans, but I think the few there were had been either miscarried or stillborn. It's not a deformity that's conducive to survival, unfortunatly.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:58 am

Medical abstract about human cyclops. Picture free, for those concerned.

flanum · Post by **flanum** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:11 am

some fairly disturbing images at
http://images.google.ie/images?q=cyclop ... art=0&sa=N

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:39 am

I knew someone who helped deliver one when he was doing OBGYN in med school. It was very premature and IIRC stillborn. He stopped into my apt after his shift, where he knew he'd find beer. He needed it.

God, now I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:35 pm

Wikipedia on the origin of the cyclops myth --

Another possible origin for the Cyclops legend is that prehistoric dwarf elephant skulls - about twice the size of a human skull were found by the Greeks on Crete. Due to the large central nasal cavity (for the trunk) in the skull, it might have been believed that this was a large, single, eye-socket. The smaller, actual, eye-sockets are on the sides and, being very shallow, hardly noticeable as such. Given the paucity of experience that the locals likely had with living elephants, they were unlikely to recognize the skull for what it actually was.

It is also possible that the rare but occasional birth of malformed children affected by cyclopia, a rare congenital cephalic disorders, could have inspired the legend.

Full article here.