It’s a world of wonders…
Our world is full of marvellous creatures and some are so rare to find and peculiar that they seem to be coming from a completly different galaxy. One of this interesting being is the Axolotl, or ambystoma mexicanum. This little creature, also called Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander and not, in fact, a fish. It is an amphibian and it usually lives in numerous lakes around Mexico city.
Save the Axolotl!
One of the most notable peculiarities of this animal is that it reaches adulthood without undergoing many changes: it remains aquatic and gilled, without developing lungs and moving to earth. This lovely animal is known for its funny and cute appearance that made it famous over the web. However it became notorious for another less joyful reason too. The axolotl is an endangered species according to CITES and is also listed as critically endangered by IUCN. The reason for this diminution in numbers is the increase in water pollution in the area around Mexico city.
They’re being used a lot in scientific researches beacuse of one special ability: they can regenerate limbs. They were also considered delicacies in the mexican market and were a common part of the Atzec diet. They were also commonly mistaken for other similar species of salamander and often hunted or killed. There are actually no surviving individuals in the wild, as an extensive research in 2013 sadly proved.
The surviving exemplars are now being ketp in safe areas and studied in order to know more about their features and how to avoid their extinction, which would be a great loss for humanity and the Earth as a whole.
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