Cool Axolotl facts

1. Wild axolotls are rarely white.

While you might see plenty of white ones in captivity, the animal is normally greenish brown or
black. White ones are known as “leucistic” and descend from a mutant male that was shipped to
Paris in 1863. They were then specially bred to be white with black eyes (different from albinos,
which generally have red eyes).

2. Their feathery headdress is not just for show.

The impossibly silly branches that grow from the axolotl’s head might not seem practical, but
they’re actually the salamander’s gills. The filaments attached to the long gills increase surface
area for gas exchange.

3. Wild ones can only be found in one place.

While you can find axolotls in aquariums and laboratories all over the world, it’s much harder to
find them in the wild. The animals can only be found in the lakes and canals of Xochimilco,
Mexico. The axolotl eats small fish, worms, and anything it can find that will fit in its mouth.

4. They’re critically endangered.

As a result of habitat loss, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species like tilapia and
carp, these salamanders are being pushed closer and closer to extinction.

In an attempt to revive the species, researchers have built “shelters” made from reeds and rocks
to filter the water and create a more desirable living space. Unfortunately, the numbers continue
to decline. There were about 6000 wild axolotls documented in a 1998 survey, but today,
researchers are lucky to find any. For a brief amount of time in 2014, biologists failed to find a
single water dog, and feared the salamanders had gone extinct in the wild. Luckily, some have
since been found roaming the water. And although it's not ideal, even if the elusive animal
disappears from the wild entirely, the species continues to thrive in captivity.

5. You can eat them.

Before the axolotl was an endangered species, Xochimilco natives would chow down on the
salamanders. Axolotl tamales were a favorite, served whole with cornmeal. In 1787, Francesco
Clavigero wrote that, "the axolotl is wholesome to eat, and is of much the same taste with an eel.
It is thought to be particularly useful in cases of consumption.”

Today, you can still taste one of these creatures—but you might have to travel to Japan to do it.
A restaurant in Osaka serves whole axolotls, deep-fried. They apparently taste like white fish
meat, but with a crunch.
6. They have a mythological background.

Xolotl was a dog-headed god from Aztec mythology. God of all things grim, the deity would
lead the souls of the dead to the underworld. As with all mythology, there a lot of mixed
accounts about what happened next, but some believe that Xolotl was fearful of being killed and
transformed into an axolotl to hide. The salamander is trapped in the water of Xochimilco,
unable to transform and walk on land.

7. Axolotls exhibit Neoteny.

Neoteny means that a creature can reach maturity without going through metamorphosis. In less
extreme cases, it’s simply exhibiting juvenile traits after reaching adulthood. Axolotls are a great
example of neoteny because as they grow bigger, they never mature. Unlike tadpoles or similar
animals, axolotls hold on to their gills and stay in the water, despite actually growing lungs.

“The one thing that neotenic species have as an advantage is that if you don’t undergo this
metamorphosis, you’re more likely to reproduce sooner. You’re already one step ahead,”
biologist Randal Voss told WIRED.

8. But sometimes they can grow up with a little push.

Sometimes as a result of a mutation, or a shot of iodine from a scientist, axolotls can be forced
out of their safe watery home. The shot gives the animal a rush of hormones that leads to a
sudden maturation (in humans, this known as “getting kicked out of your parent’s basement").
The axolotls become strikingly similar to their close relative, the tiger salamander, but they
continue to only breed with their own kind.

Transforming your aquatic friend into a land-dweller might seem cool, but leave it to the
professionals; Axolotl.org strongly urges owners to never interfere with their pets’ biology,
because it will likely be fatal.

9. Regeneration is no problem for them.

It’s not unusual for amphibians to be able to regenerate, but axolotls take it to the next level. On
top of being able to regenerate limbs, the animal can also rebuild their jaws, spines, and even
brains without any scarring. Professor Stephane Roy of University of Montreal explained to
Scientific American:

You can cut the spinal cord, crush it, remove a segment, and it will regenerate. You can cut the
limbs at any level—the wrist, the elbow, the upper arm—and it will regenerate, and it’s perfect.
There is nothing missing, there’s no scarring on the skin at the site of amputation, every tissue is
replaced. They can regenerate the same limb 50, 60, 100 times. And every time: perfect.

Scientists have also transplanted organs from one axolotl to another successfully.