A Keynote About Axolotls

1. The Axolotl
by Dylan Higgins

2. Forever Young
Like all species belonging to the amphibian group called salamanders,
the Axolotl lays its eggs in fresh water and these hatch as larvae that
obtain oxygen from the water using gills, develop, and feed on small
plants and animals. Unlike its cousins however, the Axolotl does not
undergo the change from aquatic to an air breathing
life(metamorphosis). It remains forever young, growing up to 25 cm long,
usually black in colour, and feeding on a variety of crustaceans, insect
larvae, fish and molluscs.Whereas other amphibian species cannot
reproduce in this non-metamorphosized state, the axolotl has no problem
in doing so, becoming sexually mature in the larval form(a condition
called “neotony”), with the females laying up to 1000 eggs each 3-6
months.

3. New limbs for old
• Another incredible ability of the axolotl is its powers of regeneration. Not
only can it reproduce a new limb or tail when these have been lost by
accident or through attack by a predator, the axolotl can also regenerate
brain and heart cells - a capacity that has attracted a great deal of interest in
the medical world - and which all of us would dearly like to possess! One
wonders what other valuable and amazing secrets this creature has yet to
share.

4. What’s in a name
The Spanish name “ajolote”, derives from the nahuatl “axolotl”, the name generally
used outside Mexico. It means “water dog”, and describes an animal said to have
been born when the Aztec god, Xolotl, fearing his immanent sacrifice, threw himself
into the water and was transformed into the creature we see today. Perhaps there
is some truth to this story because of the amazing, even god-like, powers that
distinguish it from its fellow amphibians and other vertebrates.

5. The foundation of a nation?
The axolotl was used by Aztecs in cerrmonies, as well as being
consumed as food and medicine. It also believed that it was often
traded, probably in exchange for building materials for the
construction of Mexico City. So it might be said that the axolotl
was instrumental in the building of the Mexican Nation. Even
today some people still eat axolotls and they are used to produce
medicine.

6. Critically endangered
Despite its amazing biology, and the fact that the secret to its understanding might lie in
the wild population in its remaining habitat, the rather tenuos futur of this population
has been recognised in the species’ recent reclassification as “Critically endangered” by
the IUCN. Hopefully, the efforts of the Mexican recearchers, conservationists, government
and other people of Xochimilco will be able to work together to ensure its survival through
appropriate and timely conservation planning and actions.
Taxonomy - Ambystoma mexicanum’s place in the animal kingdom.
Phylum: Chordata - animals with a hollow nerve chord running down their body.
Subphylum: Vertebrata - animals with a bony ‘spine’ enclosing their nerve chord.
Class: Amphibia: - four legged vertebrates (although some have become legless), adults
usually air-breathing and mainly terrestrial, breeding in water, young are aquatic with
gills.
Order: Caudata (Urodela) - newts and salamanders - amphibians with short legs, a long trunk
and a well-developed tail.
Family: Ambystomatidae - a diverse group of 35 species of smooth-skinned, stoutly built
salamanders found in North America.

7. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE
BY DYLAN HIGGINS
ROOM 18