Idaho mountain lion had teeth growing from forehead

2 hours ago 

From the sectionUS & Canada

A mountain lion killed in the US state of Idaho had a set of fully formed teeth growing out of its forehead, wildlife officials say.

The lion was legally shot dead by a hunter on 30 December.

Image copyrightAP

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says the teeth could be the remnants of a conjoined twin which died in the womb, or possibly a kind of tumour.

Biologists in the region have never seen anything like this particular deformity before, it says.

The lion was hunted after it attacked a dog near the town of Weston, Idaho. The dog survived, but a hunter set off in pursuit and killed the big cat a few hours later.

A conservation officer checked the lion's body, as required by law, and found the set of teeth, as well as what appeared to be a set of whiskers on the left side of the animal's forehead.

Continued ...

New nose grown by surgeons to replace original one

A new nose has been grown by surgeons on a patient's forehead, so it can be transplanted to replace his original one.

Xiaolian, 22, didn't look after his badly damaged nose following a traffic accident in August 2012.

The infection corroded the cartilage of his nose, making it impossible for surgeons to fix it.

They then decided to grow him a new one at a hospital in Fuzhou in Fujian province, China.

It was grown by placing a skin tissue expander onto Xiaolian's forehead, cutting it into the shape of a nose and planting cartilage taken from his ribs.

The surgeons said that the new nose is in good shape and the transplant surgery could be performed soon.

Mr Shehan Hettiaratchy is Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and a member of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS).

He says: "The forehead is a traditional place to get extra tissue from to rebuild a nose. The skin from there is a good match for nose skin.

"Most importantly, the forehead skin can be moved to the nose and keep it's blood supply, which is essential otherwise the skin would die."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/24280766