by Lisa Robinson, Director of Marketing and Communications
As the sibling of fraternal twins, aunt to identical twins, and growing up not far from Twinsburg, Ohio, I’ve known about Twins Day just about all of my life. National Twins Day is celebrated during the first full weekend of August each year, so I just missed publishing this blog by a couple of days.
Here are 10 Fascinating Facts About Twins in celebration of the 10 sets of twins who currently attend Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School.
Identical twins have DNA that is 99.9% the same. They also have almost nearly identical brain wave patterns. They do have different fingerprints and teeth marks.
About 25% of identical twins are “Mirror Image Twins." Meaning they are exact reflections of one another. For example, if one has a freckle under the left eye, the other’s freckle will be under the right eye.
22% of twins are left-handed as opposed to the 10% of singletons who turn out to be left-handed.
Twins are on the decline. Following more than three decades of increases, the twin birth rate declined 4% during 2014–2018, to the lowest rate in more than a decade, 32.6 twins per 1,000 total births in 2018.
Which U.S. State has the highest rate of twin births? According to recent data, that would be Massachusetts, with 44.3 twin births per 1,000 births. (New Mexico has the lowest.)
What country has the most occurrences of twins? A 2011 study of PLOS ONE, reveals that the small African country of The Republic of Benin sees 27.9 twins per 1,000 births! While the international rate of twin birth is 13.1 per 1,000 births, the average across the middle of Africa jumps to over 18 per 1,000.
Twins interact in the womb. In 2011, scientists at Umberto Castiello of the University of Padova in Italy studied twin 3D videos in their mother's womb. The results of the study found that in the 14th week of pregnancy, the twins were seen reaching out to each other. While in the 18th week, they are seen touching each other more often than touching their own bodies. Based on the kinematic analysis, researchers say the footage shows the twins perform different signals to each other.
Twins often have their own language. According to a research article in the journal Institute of General Linguistics, twins speak in a language known as cryptophasia that only they can understand. This language is made of inverted words and onomatopoeic expressions (sounds such as ‘boo’, ‘choo” etc.). It is estimated that nearly 40% of twins have a private language, but it tends to disappear as they grow older and learn other languages.
Dogs can tell the difference between identical twins. While twins may confuse us humans, canines can sniff out their differences. In a 2011 study published in the journal PLOS One, German shepherd police dogs were presented with the scents of identical twins. Then, they were then able to find the exact matches among jars that contained scents from other people that were meant to distract them. Though the dogs were already trained to track down individual scents, according to the report, they were able to pick out twins "even if they live in the same household and eat the same food," two things that make up our own personal perfumes.
Twins and their mothers tend to live longer. In 2016, a study conducted by the University of Washington indicated that twins had a longer lifespan than others. Apparently, the support that twins provide to one another in all aspects helps in their longevity. Another study conducted by the University of Utah showed that women who gave birth to twins enjoyed a few years more than other mothers. Earlier research conducted on women who lived between 1807 and 1899 had also indicated that mothers who give birth to twins are stronger and healthier and are likely to live longer than mothers of singletons. It also revealed that mothers of twins had a higher fertility rate as well.
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