![]() ![]() What is known about axolotls has been obtained from laboratory colonies. However, their small and generally inaccessible populations make it difficult to obtain information about their behavior. This situation is surprising, given the popularity of the axolotl for scientific study. That said, little information exists about the ecology of axolotl populations. The axolotl is charismatic and steeped in Mexican history, culture, and identity. The Xochimilco-Chalco basin, once about 77 square miles (200 square kilometers) of marshes, swamps, and lagoons, was significantly reduced 85 years ago when drainage projects were completed. Indigenous to these two spring-fed lakes along the southern edge of the Basin of Mexico, much of its suitable habitat has been drained. Naturally occurring in Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in the southern Mexico City neighborhood of Xochimilco, these fascinating creatures are rarely seen in person.ĭescended from the tiger salamander, the axolotl is “young", having inhabited central Mexico for only about the last 10,000 years, according to some experts. Like youngsters, they retain external gills, a tail, and a body fin, and lack moveable eyelids. ![]() Though it develops functional lungs, it uses its fancy, feathery gills to breathe underwater. The axolotl remains aquatic (like larvae) their entire life. Unlike other salamanders, axolotls are neotenic, meaning they keep juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Shrouded in mystery, and defying typical biological laws like metamorphosis, the axolotl (pronounced AX-oh-lot-ul), a type of salamander, keeps its webbed feet firmly placed in infancy throughout its life. ![]()
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