Third form of twins discovered

[luvbeaches]

My roomies called their cousins 'double cousins' and they looked very similar. They wouldn't be siblings because they had different parents. But the "Smith" twin girls married the "Jones" twin boys.

Technically, they do have different parents, but in the genetic world, if identical twins marry identical twins, then genetically speaking, all the kids would have the same genetic makeup.

Now that would be confusing.

 

[LaWanda]

I have fraternal twins and everyone says that they look identical. But if you are around them a lot, you can see the differences. One's face is round and the other is square shaped.

One thing that I always find funny is that people will ask me if twins are on my side or their dad's side. I asked my doc and he told me that twins always run on the maternal side of the family. I have caught several TV shows / movies / books that will make the comment or allude to the opposite.

 

[Megs]

I have fraternal twins and everyone says that they look identical. But if you are around them a lot, you can see the differences. One's face is round and the other is square shaped.

One thing that I always find funny is that people will ask me if twins are on my side or their dad's side. I asked my doc and he told me that twins always run on the maternal side of the family. I have caught several TV shows / movies / books that will make the comment or allude to the opposite.

Your doctor was right - It is passed down through the maternal side because of the ability to hyperovulate or something like that - where you ovulate more than one egg at a time....that is for fraternal twins - however, identical twins are not hereditary - they just "happen" - that's another thing I love when people ask both my husband and I if twins run in our families ~ I can't tell you how many times we've had to discuss the difference between identical/fraternal and it only being on the maternal side!

 

[hipmamajen]

Your doctor was right - It is passed down through the maternal side because of the ability to hyperovulate or something like that - where you ovulate more than one egg at a time....that is for fraternal twins - however, identical twins are not hereditary - they just "happen" - that's another thing I love when people ask both my husband and I if twins run in our families ~ I can't tell you how many times we've had to discuss the difference between identical/fraternal and it only being on the maternal side!

That was my understanding, too.

 

[Cypros]

They are discovering more about twins with our primate relatives. I thought of this thread the second I read this article. This all so fascinating!!

In the Marmoset Family, Things Really Do Appear to Be All Relative
“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle” has now taken on a new meaning. Scientists studying marmosets have discovered that over half the males carry their brother’s sperm.

Marmosets, small monkeys that live in South America, have long been a genetic enigma. Marmoset mothers almost always give birth to fraternal twins, which develop from two eggs and are thus genetically distinct. In 1962, scientists at Dartmouth Medical School discovered that almost all marmosets carry some blood-generating stem cells that began in their twin sibling.

Animals that carry cells from another individual are known as chimeras. Aside from marmosets, chimeras have been discovered in humans, cats and cows. But scientists have long thought that chimerism was a rare fluke.

Marmosets were different. Almost all of them had chimeric blood, and they were all healthy. It appears that they swap cells so often because of their peculiar development. In the womb, their placentas grow quickly and fuse, creating a network of blood vessels through which cells can travel from one twin to the other.

the complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/science/27marm.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

[montana_16]

:laugh:

Finally, an explanation for Cathy and Patty on The Patty Duke Show.

Oh Mabel, whenever I can use a good uplift--- there you are lol. You have such wit! I bet you're fun to be with.

I have identical twin cousins and while no one else could tell them apart I always could easily. One of them seemed to have a slightly more rounded face to me.

They have three girls in the family. The first born looks like my uncle,(dark hair and eyes) and the twins look like my aunt, (blond, blue eyed), my mother's sister.

The girls are all around my age now, in our fifties, and I haven't seen them for years but I know I'd still be able to tell them apart easily although no one else can.

I've always wondered why others did not see the difference. Although it was very slight, I never got them mixed up. ever. I wonder what's up with that?

 

[Sable]

Animals that carry cells from another individual are known as chimeras. Aside from marmosets, chimeras have been discovered in humans, cats and cows. But scientists have long thought that chimerism was a rare fluke.

I saw a show about that. A woman had little kid and was trying to get some kind of public assistance, so they had to do a blood test. The test came back that the father was the father, but the mother wasn't the mother. At the time she was pregnant with her second child and they tested the baby immediately after it was born so they knew there was no baby theft going on, and the baby also tested the same way as her first child. The show even pictured a baby with the condition...mixed from the bellybutton up, and from the bellybutton down one side was white and the other black.

 

[Amraann]

Nope they are both right handed. BTW :HappyBday

Thanks!!

I always read that mirror imagine twins were one left handed and one right.
This is very interesting in that your sisters are both right.