40 Interesting Facts & Trivia About the Cute-ass Axolotl
Have you ever seen an axolotl? These underwater creatures are adorable and amazing and fascinating. You’ve probably seen some of the cute-ass gifs and YouTube clips on social media and wondered about this animal that’s so unusual, it’s as if they were completely made up and not actually real. Well, these stunning salamanders are indeed real — and we have some noteworthy facts and details about this alluring amphibian! Read on!
Evolution, Classification & Reproduction Habits of the Axolotl
1. Axolotls are salamanders. However, they differ from other salamanders because axolotls remain aquatic even after they reach adulthood, whereas grown salamanders lose their gills and gain the ability to walk on land.
2. It is possible that extenuating circumstances can turn axolotls into salamanders. It’s very rare, but environmental stress can stimulate metamorphosis, and so can scientists who perform experiments by injecting the axolotl with hormones. Do not try this with your axolotl! Just accept your axolotl for who they are.
3. Another name for the axolotl is the Mexican walking fish. Of course, it is not actually a fish. It’s totally an amphibian.
4. The axolotl name is almost as fun as the creature itself. It’s pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl.
5. Since the axolotl is a Mexican salamander, it’s only fitting the Latin name is Ambystoma mexicanum because that’s Latin for “Mexican Salamander.”
6. Nahuatl is the Aztec language where the name axolotl comes from, and Xolotl was the Aztec god of many things like fire and lightning, monsters, sickness, bad luck, and deformities. According to Aztec legend, Xolotl took multiple forms, including an amphibious monster known as the axolotl. That’s where our friend gets his name!
7. Unlike humans, girl axolotls typically mature later than boy axolotls.
8. Girl axolotls can breed a few times during a season, and they can release between 400 and 1,000 eggs during spawning. Each egg is laid individually and attached to a rock or plant. The eggs will hatch in two to three weeks.
Appearance and Anatomy: What Do Axolotls Look Like?
9. Axolotls have big tails, gills that branch out of their heads, and lidless eyes. In fact, they’re the inspiration for the Pokémon Wooper.
10. Mudkip the Pokémon is also inspired by the axolotl. They are based in water and while the axolotl doesn’t really evolve at all, it takes a lot of time and effort to level up a mudkip with enough experience to turn into a new Pokémon.
11. Axolotls are neotenic, which means they don’t mature like other amphibians do. Tadpoles turn into frogs and toads as their gills develop into lungs, but an axolotl doesn’t grow and turn into anything, and they keep their gills and tadpole-like appearance. This helps explain how they keep their youthful looks!
12. The term neotenic was invented by German zoologist Julius Kollmann in 1885 to describe the axolotl remaining in this tadpole-like stage forever. They spend their whole life underwater and never taking to land.
13. See those feathery deals on either side of the little guy’s head? Those are gills!
14. From nose to tail, axolotls usually reach about 10 inches long in length at full maturity.
15. Axolotls only weight about 10 ounces on average.
16. Much of an axolotl’s skeleton is made of cartilage. They don’t really have bones.
17. Axolotls are usually brown or black, at least in the wild. But white and albino axolotls are also very common, especially ones kept as pets that you see all over social media. As an example, here is a video of axolotls in nature.
18. While we’re not sure how often scientists share axolotl memes with their friends, they are definitely as fascinated with them as the rest of us. The axolotl has a genome so complex that it has 32 billion base pairs, which is nuts considering that humans only have about 3 billion base pairs in our DNA. It’s also the largest genome every fully sequenced, a task completed by European scientists in 2018. In doing this, brainboxes hope to gain insight into the amazing powers of the axolotl, and maybe by the year 2491, humans can use axolotl DNA to regrow our own limbs.
19. Another cool thing about the axolotl that makes it so fascinating for scientist is that they are literally 1,000 times more resistant to cancer than we are. In addition to their regenerative superpowers, it’s another reason they’re being studied.
20. How cool are axolotls? They have regenerative powers! They can regrow their tail and limbs if they should unfortunately lose them, and if parts of their heart or brain get damaged, they can grow those as well! This only adds to our fascination of axolotls.
Habitat and Lifestyle: Where Does the Axolotl Live?
21. In the wild, axolotls are found exclusively around Lake Xochimilco, right outside Mexico City.
22. The life span of the average axolotl is about 15 years. They’ve been known to live for 20 years, though.
23. Axolotls have been known to jump out of the water!
24. Axolotls bite! They won’t bite your leg off but they have been known to bite off the leg of other axolotl.
Diet and Food: What Does an Axolotl Eat?
25. Rawr! The axolotl is a carnivore! In the wild, axolotls tend to consist on a diet of worms, insect larvae, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish.
26. Axolotls don’t have the best sight, and they tend to locate their food by smelling.
27. Until us humans screwed up Lake Xochimilco and ruined their natural habitat, axolotls were pretty used to being the top predator. Don’t let their cuteness fool you — they were actually the dominant species of their environment.
Predators & Conservation: How Are Axolotls Threatened?
28. It’s hard to dig up a very recent number but as of 2010, there are only about a thousand axolotls left in the wild.
29. Unfortunately, axolotls have been designated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Much of Lake Xochimilco has been drained and contaminated with pollution that has forced the poor axolotl to drop in numbers.
30. Invasive species like tilapia and carp have also infested the waters and eaten a lot of the vegetation they depend on to the point where axolotls are no longer the dominant species on the ecosystem’s food chain. Doesn’t that suck?
31. Because there are so few axolotls left in the wild, the genetic diversity takes a huge hit and that’s dangerous for the leftover population as the inbreeding takes away some of the adaptation and fitness gains evolution provided.
32. Believe it or not, roasted axolotl is considered a delicacy in some parts of Mexico. We absolutely do not at all recommend cooking and eating such an adorable animal, especially one so endangered.
Can I have an Axolotl as a Pet?
33. Yes! An axolotl can make a fantastic domestic companion. Of course, you can’t take them out of the aquarium, but as long as you’re good about giving them a tank with sufficient space with water kept at the proper temperature, they’re pretty low maintenance with a simple diet, and they can provide lots of delightful engagement and entertainment.
34. Before you purchase an axolotl to keep as a pet, make sure they are legal to own in your state. States where it is illegal to own an axolotl include California, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maine. If you live in New Mexico, you can have one, but you can’t import it from another state.
35. It is actually not common to find axolotls at your local pet store. They require a certain kind of temperature regulation that isn’t consistent with other reptiles and amphibians, so if you’re in the market for an axolotl, you’ll have to ask around.
36. When you have an axolotl as pet, you can feed it lots of different things. They can eat tadpoles, insects, regular basic fish pellets you can get at any pet store, earthworms and bloodworms, and even cat food! They can also eat liver and raw beef, as long as you trim off all the fat.
37. If you’re planning on buying an axolotl, try not to have anything smaller than their head in the aquarium. This includes gravel, sand, pebbles, and other tiny rocks. The axolotl will attempt to eat them and this is not something you want if you want your axolotl to have a long, healthy life.
38. They are not exactly very social. In fact, kiddie axolotls have been known to nip at other young axolotls and small fish. If you plan on owning more than one and keeping them in the same tank, make sure they are bigger and a bit more mature — ideally longer than five inches.
39. If you keep an axolotl as a pet, you totally need to keep an aquarium hood or lid to cover your tank in case they jump out, as they have been known to do.
40. This is how adorable an axolotl may look if you try to feed it. Bookmark this gif so you can watch it over and over if you need a pick-me-up.
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