The animal that’s everywhere and nowhere
January 27, 2022 2:37 AM Subscribe
Axolotls are among the most widespread amphibians on Earth. In the wild, they’re almost extinct. Inspiration for Pokemon, minecraft and kawaii culture, axolotls are not just cute, they are rather... weird.
Axolotls are characterized by their neoteny, which means that they retain their juvenile appearance and behavior into adulthood. They are also able to regenerate limbs and organs. They are model organisms, which has led to them being widely bred in labs.
In the 1970s, all but one of the lakes that were the native habitat of the Axolotl were drained. There are moves to try and save the natural habitat of the Axolotl, but the estimated number remaining in the wild is 700 - 1,200. According to a study carried out by Mexican biologist Luis Zambrano, there were 6,000 axolotls per square kilometre in the Xochimilco lake complex in 1998; today, there are just 35.
(I have wanted a pet Axolotl since I first saw one in a pet shop when I was six, but have never had one.)
Axolotls are characterized by their neoteny, which means that they retain their juvenile appearance and behavior into adulthood. They are also able to regenerate limbs and organs. They are model organisms, which has led to them being widely bred in labs.
In the 1970s, all but one of the lakes that were the native habitat of the Axolotl were drained. There are moves to try and save the natural habitat of the Axolotl, but the estimated number remaining in the wild is 700 - 1,200. According to a study carried out by Mexican biologist Luis Zambrano, there were 6,000 axolotls per square kilometre in the Xochimilco lake complex in 1998; today, there are just 35.
(I have wanted a pet Axolotl since I first saw one in a pet shop when I was six, but have never had one.)
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- loup
This was a really nice video on how to pronounce “axolotl” in Nahuatl, I appreciated it so much.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:28 AM on January 27, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 5:28 AM on January 27, 2022 [23 favorites]
Essay by one of my favorite and often-recommended authors: When in Doubt, Smile Like an Axolotl by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. This is an excerpt from her excellent book of prose, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments.
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:32 AM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:32 AM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
“ Cf I wandered Lonely As A Clod”
I think I was a 10 year old when I read that. Still gives me the giggles…
posted by cybrcamper at 7:18 AM on January 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think I was a 10 year old when I read that. Still gives me the giggles…
posted by cybrcamper at 7:18 AM on January 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
This was a really nice video on how to pronounce “axolotl” in Nahuatl, I appreciated it so much.That's a great link. Thanks! (I don't speak the language(s), but my spouse does and that sure sounds right to my very badly trained ears. It also provides pretty good intuition for most stuff with x, ch, or a tl as usually written today, including Xochimilco and Nahuatl. At least at the level that people like me can recognize.)
Also, a really nice post. And a really cool animal.
posted by eotvos at 8:33 AM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cf I wandered Lonely As A Clod
I came here specifically for the MAD magazine reference. I am not disappointed. Now, I am going to bounce out of here like Potrzebie.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 8:34 AM on January 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
I came here specifically for the MAD magazine reference. I am not disappointed. Now, I am going to bounce out of here like Potrzebie.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 8:34 AM on January 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
They mean widespread pet and experimental animal amphibian, I think.
I have never owned an axolotl. I lurked for a long time on Caudata, a major newt and salamander community with a large axolotl section. Axolotls are temperature sensitive and do not thrive in warm water; they prefer cold water. I realized I'd need a tank setup with a chiller or else to keep the house at 66 degrees F.
Raising them from eggs requires feeding with live food (typically brine shrimp and bloodworms) and being prepared for a large die-off.
I realized that they are more difficult to keep than it appears and that if I had one, I wouldn't be able to bear it if it died. I think too many people got into the hobby of keeping them when axolotls as pets were trendy a few years ago.
posted by bad grammar at 8:35 AM on January 27, 2022
I have never owned an axolotl. I lurked for a long time on Caudata, a major newt and salamander community with a large axolotl section. Axolotls are temperature sensitive and do not thrive in warm water; they prefer cold water. I realized I'd need a tank setup with a chiller or else to keep the house at 66 degrees F.
Raising them from eggs requires feeding with live food (typically brine shrimp and bloodworms) and being prepared for a large die-off.
I realized that they are more difficult to keep than it appears and that if I had one, I wouldn't be able to bear it if it died. I think too many people got into the hobby of keeping them when axolotls as pets were trendy a few years ago.
posted by bad grammar at 8:35 AM on January 27, 2022
"Smile Like an Axolotl" counters the colonialist presentation of axolotls in Julio Cortazar's story "Axolotl" (translation here).
Tiger salamanders can also be neotenic. Their larvae have external gills, long finned tails, and four legs and look very much like axolotls, but are often sold in the USA as fish bait (termed "waterdogs").
posted by bad grammar at 8:45 AM on January 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Tiger salamanders can also be neotenic. Their larvae have external gills, long finned tails, and four legs and look very much like axolotls, but are often sold in the USA as fish bait (termed "waterdogs").
posted by bad grammar at 8:45 AM on January 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
This post confused me at first, because I'd always heard axolotls also lived natively in the "axolotl lakes" here in Montana. Turns out those aren't true axolotls, but a closely related species (the tiger salamander mentioned by bad grammar) that only sometimes shows neoteny, but apparently those lakes have the niche that favors it.
posted by traveler_ at 9:21 AM on January 27, 2022
posted by traveler_ at 9:21 AM on January 27, 2022
99% Invisible did an excellent episode on axlotls recently.
posted by workerant at 1:05 PM on January 27, 2022
posted by workerant at 1:05 PM on January 27, 2022
Lawn Beaver, that video was fantastic! Thank you!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 1:13 PM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 1:13 PM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Gosh I like Ambystomatids a lot. "Tiger salamanders" can refer to a large genus of new world salamanders, Ambystoma. Axolotls are one member of the genus, A. mexicanum. Many members of the genus have facultative paedomorphosis, and a few are more or less obligate paedomorphs. For those which do undergo metamorphosis, the transformed individuals tend to spend almost their entire lives underground, emerging to roam about on the surface only in ideal conditions (e.g. on rainy nights).
California's most famous member of the genus, A californiense, usually breeds in large seasonal ponds, and then migrates away to live in mammal burrows for years before returning to breed. The adults sometimes move more than a mile from their natal ponds, which is a long way to walk on those little legs! From a policy standpoint, California tiger salamander is a lynchpin of the state's conservation strategy. The species is listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. Its highly mobile, yet secretive, life history makes it an ideal umbrella species. Anyplace within 2km of a known California tiger salamander breeding pond can be considered to be potentially occupied habitat, and it's tough to prove absence. That means that development across much of the central valley and coast range ends up needing to provide compensatory mitigation for this species, which in turn conserves a lot of open land.
The species opens up other interesting policy questions as well, because it hybridizes with the aforementioned introduced "fish bait" salamanders, A. mavortium. This hybridization is a loss of genetic diversity, and hybrids themselves exist in a strange legal grey zone--they are simultaneously a forbidden invasive species, and an endangered species. How do you treat such an animal? To reduce this sort of question, and prevent additional invasions, California has forbidden the importing of any member of the genus, so we Californians are relatively poor in the opportunity to keep Axolotls, but we still get to enjoy their outsized internet presence.
posted by agentofselection at 1:51 PM on January 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
California's most famous member of the genus, A californiense, usually breeds in large seasonal ponds, and then migrates away to live in mammal burrows for years before returning to breed. The adults sometimes move more than a mile from their natal ponds, which is a long way to walk on those little legs! From a policy standpoint, California tiger salamander is a lynchpin of the state's conservation strategy. The species is listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. Its highly mobile, yet secretive, life history makes it an ideal umbrella species. Anyplace within 2km of a known California tiger salamander breeding pond can be considered to be potentially occupied habitat, and it's tough to prove absence. That means that development across much of the central valley and coast range ends up needing to provide compensatory mitigation for this species, which in turn conserves a lot of open land.
The species opens up other interesting policy questions as well, because it hybridizes with the aforementioned introduced "fish bait" salamanders, A. mavortium. This hybridization is a loss of genetic diversity, and hybrids themselves exist in a strange legal grey zone--they are simultaneously a forbidden invasive species, and an endangered species. How do you treat such an animal? To reduce this sort of question, and prevent additional invasions, California has forbidden the importing of any member of the genus, so we Californians are relatively poor in the opportunity to keep Axolotls, but we still get to enjoy their outsized internet presence.
posted by agentofselection at 1:51 PM on January 27, 2022 [5 favorites]
The Axolotl Song
I was coming in to post this, but I see I've been beaten to it. Nothing for it but to chug a bottle of salamander goo.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:44 PM on January 27, 2022
I was coming in to post this, but I see I've been beaten to it. Nothing for it but to chug a bottle of salamander goo.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:44 PM on January 27, 2022
I brought one of my 6 axolotls in a tub to my grade 4/5 students to observe. Instant cred/popularity with the animal- and minecraft-lovers.
They are particularly fussy, somewhat complicated animals to care for. I'm referring to the axolotls here.
posted by transient at 6:08 PM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
They are particularly fussy, somewhat complicated animals to care for. I'm referring to the axolotls here.
posted by transient at 6:08 PM on January 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
i had a pet axolotl until last august. wani-chan was the best axolotl, and the best pet, and i still miss looking over to watch him swim around his tank, how he’d beg for food even though i had just fed him, how he’d swim to the side of the tank closest to the door when i entered the room.
posted by emmling at 7:39 PM on January 27, 2022
posted by emmling at 7:39 PM on January 27, 2022
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