Cute little fellow, ain’t he? Or she–I can’t tell with axolotls.
Jambo, everybody, Mr. Nature here. Let me tell you two cool things about axolotls.
They can grow back body parts that get injured and lost–a foot, a leg, or a piece of the tail. Other salamanders can do that, too; I once saw a really big salamander that had five feet (two on one leg, where an injured foot healed but a new one grew anyway).
Even cooler, axolotls are actually baby salamanders (very closely related to the tiger salamander) which never metamorphose into the adult form so they can live on land. They remain in the water all their lives, never shed their gills, and–like a lot of college students–never grow up, even though they can reproduce. They do grow bigger as time goes on, but they never complete the ordinary salamander life cycle. Reminds me of that old saying, “You can’t stay young, but you can be immature forever.”
Axolotls are rare; they live in fresh water in and around Mexico City, and urbanization subjects their environment to high stress. There are probably more axolotls kept as pets, and captive-bred, than can be found in the wild today.
They deserve to survive–which, I think, will test the kindness, patience, and benevolence of the human race.
Plus, they’re adorable!
At first, I thought you were kidding us. I had never seen one of these, or even heard of them. They are kind of cute, though.
Didn’t you read “Mark Trail” when you were a kid? They would’ve turned up there.
I really don’t remember if I read that or not. I read so many books, I had my nose in one at every available moment, but I guess I probably missed some that I considered to be “boys” books. LOL
it was a comic strip in the Sunday papers
Cute critter and a fascinating story.
Fascinating!