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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
axolotl,
Mexican axolotl, Mexican salamander, Mexican walking
fish |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Amphibia |
| ORDER: |
Caudata |
| FAMILY: |
Ambystomatidae
[salamanders] |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Ambystoma
mexicanum |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Axolotls
may exhibit a variety of colors, including gray,
tan, brown, white, golden albino, white albino,
and blue |
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| SIZE: |
20-30
cm (10-12 in.) |
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| WEIGHT: |
Up
to 300 g (8 oz.) |
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| DIET: |
Small
aquatic creatures including worms, insects, crustaceans,
and small fishes |
|
| INCUBATION: |
2-3
weeks |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
200-1,000+ eggs in a single spawning |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
6-12
months |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Axolotls
may live more than 10 years |
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| RANGE: |
Native
to both Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco (no longer
in existance) of Mexico |
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| HABITAT: |
Freshwater
lakes, usually murky |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Vulnerable |
| CITES |
Appendix
II |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
One
derivation of the name 'axolotl' references the
Aztec god Xolotl, the god of games who could turn
himself into an axolotl to escape his enemies. |
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| 2. |
An axolotl's skeleton is comprised mostly of cartilage.
They exhibit neoteny, meaning they retain juvenile
characteristics into adulthood. |
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| 3. |
They are aquatic, and although they posses rudimentary
lungs, they breathe primarily through their gills
and, to a lesser extent, their skin. |
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| 4. |
If
axolotls spend prolonged periods of time in shallow
water, their gills may be absorbed and they can
begin using their lungs on land. However, if axolotls
are in deep water for long, they will keep their
gills for the remainder of their lives, or until
they move to shallow water for a long period of
time. |
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| 5. |
Axolotls
have amazing healing abilities. Normal wound healing
in animals occurs through the growth of scar tissue,
and this means that most animals won't re-grow a
lost limb. However, the axolotl is fully capable
of complete limb re-growth. |
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| Amphibians
have porous skin and respond quickly to changes
in the environment-the health of their populations
can be an indicator of the health of the environment.
Axolotls are important in medical and scientific
research because of their unique regenerative qualities
as well as their neotenic characteristics. |
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|
|
Beringer and Johnson. 1995. Herpetological Review.
26(2):98. |
|
|
Duellman and Trueb. Biology of the Amphibians.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1986. |
|
|
Halliday, Tim R. and Kraig Adler (eds.). The
Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. New
York: Facts on File, 1987.
|
|
| Stebins
and Cohen. A Natural History of Amphibians.
1995. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey. |
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| www.axolotl.org |
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| www.caudata.org |
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