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Axolotl Facts & Worksheets

Axolotl is a species of paedomorphic salamander. As amphibians, they're unique for their ability mature without undergoing metamorphasis.

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The Axolotl is a species of paedomorphic salamander related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unique among amphibians in that they mature without undergoing a metamorphosis, and adults remain underwater and gilled rather than moving to land. The species was discovered in many lakes under what is now Mexico City, including Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco. Following the conquest of the Aztec Empire, Spanish conquestadors drained these lakes, destroying most of the Axolotl’s native habitat.

See the fact file below for more information on axolotl or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Axolotl worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Description

  • At 18-27 months, a sexually mature adult axolotl spans in measurement from 15 to 45 cm or 6 to 18 inches, with a size near 23 cm (9 in) being the most frequent and more significant than 30 cm (12 in) being unusual. Axolotls have outer gills and a caudal fin that stretches from behind the head to the vent, which are characteristics of salamander larvae.
  • External gills are often removed as salamanders reach adulthood, while axolotls retain this trait. It is related to neoteny evolution, which has resulted in axolotls being significantly more aquatic than other salamander species. Their eyes are lidless, and their heads are wide open. Their limbs are undeveloped, and their digits are lengthy and slender. Males are distinguished by their inflated cloacae bordered with papillae, and females are distinguished by their larger bodies filled with eggs.
  • Axolotls have four pigmentation genes that can alter to produce distinct color variations. The typical wild-type animal is brown/tan in color with gold speckles and an olive undertone. 
  • The five most common mutant colors are leucistic or pale pink with black eyes; golden albino, which is golden with gold watches, xanthic which is a grey color with black eyes, albino a pale pink/white with red eyes, which is more prevalent in axolotls than in other creatures, and melanoid or an all black/dark blue color with no gold speckling or olive tone.
  • Axolotls may change their color to provide more excellent concealment by varying their melanophores’ relative size and thickness.

Habitat and Ecology

  • The Axolotl is exclusively found in the Valley of Mexico’s Xochimilco and Chalco freshwater lakes. Lake Chalco is no longer there, having been drained as a flood control measure, while Lake Xochimilco is only a shadow of its former existence, remaining mostly as canals. The water temperature of Xochimilco rarely climbs beyond 20 °C (68 °F), although it can drop to 6-7 °C (43-45 °F) or lower in the winter.
  • The expansion of Mexico City has put a strain on the wild population. The axolotl is now threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s yearly Red List. Non-native species have also lately been introduced to the waterways, including African tilapia and Asian carp. The new fish have consumed the axolotls’ young and their principal food supply.
  • Like all Ambystoma species in Mexico, are constituents of the tiger salamander, or Ambystoma tigrinum, species complex. Their environment is similar to that of most neotenic species: a high-altitude body of water surrounded by a dangerous terrestrial environment, and these circumstances favor neoteny. On the other hand, a terrestrial population of Mexican tiger salamanders lives and breeds in the Axolotl’s environment.
  • In the wild, axolotls eat tiny prey such as mollusks, worms, insects, small fish, and other anthropods. Axolotls detect food by scent and will “snap” at any possible meal, pulling it into their stomachs with vacuum force.

Model Organism

  • The Axolotl is still a model organism in the study today, and huge numbers are produced in captivity. They are easier to breed than salamanders in this family, which are rarely captive-bred because of the need for terrestrial existence. The big and readily controlled embryo, which permits viewing of the vertebrate’s whole development, is one appealing characteristic for study.
  • Because of a defective gene that causes heart failure in embryos, axolotls are employed in heart defect research. Because seeds with no cardiac function survive practically until hatching, the abnormality is visible. The Axolotl is also regarded as an appropriate animal prototype for the study of neural tube closure due to parallels between human and axolotl neural plates and tube creation; unlike the frog’s, the Axolotl’s neural tube is not concealed under a layer of superficial epithelium. Other mutations impact other organ systems, some of which are poorly understood and others that are. The genetics of axolotl color variations have also been extensively researched.

Regeneration

  • The Axolotl’s most appealing trait is its healing ability: the Axolotl does not heal through scarring and is capable of regeneration of completely lost appendages and, in certain circumstances, more critical structures such as a tail, leg, central nervous system, and tissues of the eye and heart in a matter of months.
  • They can even regenerate less essential regions of their brains. They may also take transplants from other people, like eyes and brain parts, returning these foreign organs to full functionality. In certain circumstances, axolotls have been found to mend a broken leg and regenerate another, resulting in an extra appendage that pet owners find appealing as a novelty.
  • The three essential needs for limb regeneration are the wound epithelium, nerve signaling, and the existence of cells from the various limb axis. The cells immediately build a wound epidermis to cover up the wound site. In the days that follow, the wound epidermal cells divide and develop rapidly, generating a blastema, indicating that the impairment is ready to heal and experience patterning to produce the new leg.
  • It is thought that axolotls have a distinct mechanism during limb formation to regulate their internal macrophage level and decrease inflammation, as scarring hampers appropriate healing and regeneration. Other research, however, has called this view into doubt. The regeneration characteristics of the Axolotl make it an ideal model for studying the process of stem cells and its neoteny trait. Specific instances of these regenerative capabilities may be recorded by following cell fates and behaviors, origin tracing skin triploid cell transplants, pigmentation imaging, electroporation, tissue clearance, and dye labeling. The latest germline alteration and transgenesis technologies are more suited for live imaging of axolotl regeneration processes.

Genome

  • The axolotl genome’s 32 billion base pair sequencing was revealed in 2018 and was the most extensive anime genome completed. It discovered species-specific genomic pathways that may be involved in limb regeneration. Although the axolotl genome is around ten times larger than the human genome, it encodes a comparable amount of proteins, 23,251.
  • A high proportion of repetitive sequences mainly explains the size difference. However, such repeated elements also contribute to higher median intron size (22,759 bp), which is 13, 16, and 25 times larger than that seen in humans (1,750 bp), mice (1,469 bp), and Tibetan frogs (906 bp).

Neoteny

  • When most amphibians are young, they dwell in water and have gills that allow them to breathe. When they reach adulthood, they undergo metamorphosis, in which they remove their gills and begin living on land. The Axolotl, on the other hand, is unique in that it lacks stimulating thyroid hormone, which is required for the thyroid to produce thyroxine for the Axolotl to undergo metamorphosis; as a result, it retains its gills and lives in water throughout its life, even after it becomes an adult and can reproduce.
  • Axolotls, during metamorphosis, endure various psychological changes that aid in their adaptation to life on land. These include increased muscle tone in the limbs, the uptake of gills and fins into the body, the production of eyelids, and a decline in the skin’s permeability to water, which helps the Axolotl stay hydrated when on land. Although lungs are present with gills in non-metamorphosed adults, they grow further during metamorphosis.
  • Neoteny refers to achieving sexual maturity without going through a transformation. Many additional species in the Axolotl are either totally neotenic or have neotenic populations, and sirens and Necturus are two more neotenic salamanders. However, axolotls cannot be forced to metamorphose using iodine or thyroxine hormone injections.
  • Neotony has been seen in all salamander groups, where it appears to be a survival technique, in only mountain and aquatic hill settings with low food and, in particular, insufficient iodine. Salamanders may reproduce and live in the shape of a minor larval phase, which is aquatic and requires less quality and amount of food than the large adult, which is terrestrial.
  • If salamander larvae consume enough iodine directly or indirectly through cannibalism, they rapidly metamorphose into more significant terrestrial adults with increased nutritional needs. In truth, in particular high mountain lakes, dwarf salmonids thrive, which are caused by nutrient deficits, particularly iodine, which produces cretinism and dwarfism owing to hypothyroidism, much as it does in humans.

Captive Care

  • Like its cousin, the tiger salamander, the Axolotl is a popular exotic pet (Ambystoma tigrinum). Lower temperatures cause a slowed metabolism and a highly harmful lowered appetite in all poikilothermic species.
  • Temperatures of 16 °C or 61 °F to 18 °C or 64 °F are recommended for captive axolotls to ensure adequate food intake; stress caused by more than a day’s vulnerability to lower temperatures may quickly lead to sickness and death, and temperatures higher than 24 °C or 75 °F may cause a metabolic rate increase, causing stress and eventually death.
  • Like other amphibians and reptiles, Axolotls consume bedding material with meals and are prone to gastrointestinal blockage and foreign body ingestion. Some popular animal enclosure surfaces are toxic to amphibians and reptiles.
  • Gravel should avoid (typical in aquarium use), and any sand should be composed of smooth particles with a grain size of less than 1mm. One laboratory reference on axolotl care warns that intestine blockages are a common cause of mortality and suggests that no things with a diameter less than 3 cm (or around the size of the animal’s head) be given to the animal.
  • Based on research done at the University of Manitoba axolotl colony, there is some indication that axolotls may seek out appropriately-sized pebbles for use as gastroliths. However, these findings are old and inconclusive. Because there is no solid evidence linking gastrolith usage to impaction, we should avoid gravel.

Axolotl Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about axolotl across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Axolotl worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Axolotl, which is a species of paedomorphic salamander related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unique among amphibians in that they mature without undergoing a metamorphosis, and adults remain underwater and gilled rather than moving to land.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Axolotl Facts
  • My Axolotl Art
  • Lake of Axolotls
  • What’s It Called?
  • Incomplete Ideas
  • Correct or Incorrect
  • Color Blanks
  • Salamander Family
  • Saving Axolotls
  • Axolotl Cuisine
  • My Pet Axolotl

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Axolotl?

The Axolotl is a species of paedomorphic salamander related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unique among amphibians in that they mature without undergoing a metamorphosis, and adults remain underwater and gilled rather than moving to land.

Where does Axolotl commonly found?

The Axolotl is exclusively found in the Valley of Mexico’s Xochimilco and Chalco freshwater lakes. Lake Chalco is no longer there, having been drained as a flood control measure, while Lake Xochimilco is only a shadow of its former existence, remaining mostly as canals. The water temperature of Xochimilco rarely climbs beyond 20 °C (68 °F), although it can drop to 6-7 °C (43-45 °F) or lower in the winter.

What are the five colors of Axolotl?

The five most common mutant colors are leucistic or pale pink with black eyes; golden albino, which is golden with gold watches, xanthic which is a grey color with black eyes, albino a pale pink/white with red eyes, which is more prevalent in axolotls than in other creatures, and melanoid or an all black/dark blue color with no gold speckling or olive tone.

What makes the Axolotl unique among other amphibians?

The Axolotl, on the other hand, is unique in that it lacks stimulating thyroid hormone, which is required for the thyroid to produce thyroxine for the Axolotl to undergo metamorphosis; as a result, it retains its gills and lives in water throughout its life, even after it becomes an adult and can reproduce.

How should we take care of the captive Axolotl?

Temperatures of 16 °C or 61 °F to 18 °C or 64 °F are recommended for captive axolotls to ensure adequate food intake; stress caused by more than a day’s vulnerability to lower temperatures may quickly lead to sickness and death, and temperatures higher than 24 °C or 75 °F may cause a metabolic rate increase, causing stress and eventually death.

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