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Janiceps parasiticus
Janiceps parasiticus are janiceps in which one member of the twins is partially formed and acts as a parasite on the more fully developed twin. A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another organism to obtain nourishment. This is where the term "parasiticus" comes in, since it means "parasite" in Latin. See the entry for janiceps asymmetrus for another type of janciceps.
Janiceps comes from the Latin word "Janus" who was a two-faced Roman god, and the Latin word "caput" meaning "head." Parasiticus is Latin for "parasite," which was defined above. For all of you word origin fans out there, the word parasite originated from the Greek word "parasitos," meaning "one who eats at the table of another." See the entry for janiceps to see a picture of the two-face Roman god, Janus.
To understand what this medical term means, it is first necessary to understand the meaning of the word, janiceps. Janiceps are twins that are joined together with the heads connected and the faces pointing in opposite directions. Although the bodies and faces of the some janiceps may be completely formed, this is not the case for janiceps parasiticus.
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