Lex and Livia may have spent the beginning of their lives apart, but the bond between twins originates before they’re even born. In some cases, twins have been known to interact with each other in the womb as early as 14 weeks. Check out some other cool facts about twins!
- Identical twins have nearly the same DNA (99.9%), but don't share the same set of fingerprints!
- Twins can have different birthdays! In some cases, babies have been born days apart, but it can also be as long as weeks or months. The current record is 87 days after one twin was born four-months premature.
- Having a hard time telling apart identical twins? Look at their belly buttons, since that is technically the “scar” left behind after the umbilical cord is cut at birth.
- About 40% of twins invent their own language of gibberish, called idioglossia. As the children reach school age and interact with others their age, they typically drop the lingo.
- If identical male twins procreate with identical female twins, their children will legally be cousins, but genetically full siblings.
- Twins are more likely to be born to taller women because they have higher amounts of growth hormones.
- Polar bears most commonly birth twins! It's pretty rare for a mama to have a single cub or even triplets.
- Some twins are mirror images of each other. So, if one has a birthmark on his or her left leg, the other would have one in the same area on the right leg. In some extreme cases, their internal organs can even be switched!
- The oldest living twins, Germaine Feuillet and Suzanne Lenormand of France, were born on December 8, 1911, making them 106 years old!
- While roughly 10% of the world's population is left-handed, twins are twice as likely to be a south paw.