Fans of Dr Dolittle might think they know what a Pushmi-Pullyu is. The Rex Harrison movie of 1967 portrayed the Pushmi-Pullyu as a two-headed llama. Yet the original books (first published in the Twenties and, sadly, full of rather unpleasant racist slurs) described the creature as a cross between a gazelle and a unicorn. Either way, it’s a problematic beast. Yes, it could talk at one end and eat at the other — a seemingly rather efficient arrangement — but how it went to the toilet, let alone engaged in reproduction, remains a mystery.
