- Polymelia
DiseaseDisorder infobox
Name = Polymelia
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DiseasesDB =Polymelia (from Greek πολυ- = "many" plus μέλος (plural μέλεα) = "limb") is a
birth defect involving limbs (a type ofdysmelia ), in which the affected individual has more than the usual number of limbs. In humans and most land-dwelling animals, this means having five or more limbs. The extra limb is most commonly shrunken and/or deformed.Sometimes an embryo started as
conjoined twins , but one twin degenerated completely except for one or more limbs, which end up attached to the other twin.Sometimes small extra legs between the normal legs are caused by the body axis forking in the
dipygus condition.Frog s in the USA sometimes are affected by polymelia: seeRibeiroia .Notable cases
In humans
*In March 2006, a baby boy identified only as
Jie-jie was born inShanghai with a fully formed third arm: he had two full-sized left arms, one ventral to the other. This is the only documented case of a child born with a fully formed supernumerary arm. It is an example of an extra limb on a normal body axis. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5153292.stm]
*In the summer of 2005, a baby girl named Destiny was born with a fully formed extra leg inDetroit . This was the result of aconjoined twin scenario.
* In July 2007 a child was born with four legs at theLebowakgomo hospital outsidePolokwane (South Africa) [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2142466,00.html]
* On November 6 2007, doctors at Bangalore's Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore, India successfully completed surgery on a 2 year old girl namedLakshmi Tatma who was born with 4 arms and 4 legs; but this was not true polymelia but a case of ischiopagusSiamese twin ning where one twin's head had disappeared during development.In animals
*A four-legged
chicken was born at Brendle Farms inSomerset, Pennsylvania , in 2005. [cite news|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=qw115894188473B221|title="Pennsylvania farm discovers a four-legged chicken|publisher=The Associated Press|author=The Associated Press|date=2006-09-22 | accessdate=2006-09-22] The story was carried on the major TV network news programs and "USAToday ". The bird was found living normally among the rest of the chickens after 18 months. She was adopted and named Henrietta by the farm owner's 13 year old daughter, Ashley, who refuses to sell the chicken. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14960695/] MSNBC video of Henrietta] The second (hind) legs are fully formed but non-functional.
*Four-leggedduck s are occasionally born, such as 'Stumpy', an individual born in February 2007 on a farm inHampshire ,England . See also [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/07/content_4806500.htm] .In Mythology
Many mythological creatures like
dragon s, winged horses, andgriffin s have six limbs, four legs and two wings. The dragon's science is discussed inIn popular culture
*
Edward Albee 's stage play "The Man Who Had Three Arms " tells the story of a fictional individual who was normal at birth but eventually sprouted a third functional arm, protruding from between his shoulder blades. After several years of living with three arms, the extra limb was reabsorbed into his body and the man became physically normal again. In Albee's play, the title character is extremely angry that we (the audience) seem to be much more interested in the period of his life when he had three arms, rather than his normal life before and after that interval.
*"Monty Python's Flying Circus " performed a skit about a man with three buttocks. (This defect is scientifically possible, though very unlikely.) He believes that he has been invited to be interviewed on television because he is a nice person, and is dismayed to learn that he has only been invited because the interviewer is curious about his unusual condition.
*"Jake the Peg " was a fictional three-legged man, played by Rolf Harris in the 1960s. The song was written in 1966 with Frank Roosen, a Dutchman in Vancouver, Canada.
*"The Dark Backward " is a 1991 comedy film directed and written by Adam Rifkin, which features Judd Nelson as a unfunny garbage man who pursues a stand-up comedy career. When the "comedian" grows a third arm out of his back, he becomes an overnight hit.
*Justice, the main antagonist in thecartoon Afro Samurai , has a fully formed arm protruding from his right shoulder; it is vital to the plot.ee also
*
Dysmelia
*Polydactyly
*Polysyndactyly
*Polycephaly References
*Avian Diseases, 1985 Jan-Mar;29(1):244-5. "Polymelia in a broiler chicken.", Anderson WI, Langheinrich KA, McCaskey PC.: "A polymelus monster was observed in a 7-week-old slaughterhouse chicken. The supernumerary limbs were smaller than the normal appendages but contained an equal number of digits.".
*http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11714039 Polymelia in acalf
*http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jun102001/1447.pdf Polymelia in the toad "Bufo melanostictus "External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6371901.stm Four-legged duckling shocks owner] — BBC News, 17 February 2007
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