axolotl
jstemwedel | June 11, 2010Dr. Free-Ride: What was it we were going to talk about today?
Elder offspring: The axolotl.
Dr. Free-Ride: Can you please spell that?
Elder offspring: A-X-O-L-O- ... wait. A-X-O-T-O-L. Wait! A-X-O-L-O-T-O-L. I think.
Dr. Free-Ride: Hmm. I shall do some checking on the spelling. And what is it?
Elder offspring: It's a salamander that has achieved eternal youth!
Dr. Free-Ride: Eternal youth?
Elder offspring: At least, youth for the rest of its life.
Dr. Free-Ride: Um, I guess that's eternal enough for that individual. So what does it mean for a salamander to achieve eternal youth? Does…
mikethemadbiologist | December 6, 2008Where's axolotl?
(Credit: Jan-Peter Kasper/EPA/CORBIS)
Often, biologists talk about model systems: organisms that are particularly useful for research. One such organism is the axotol, Ambystoma mexicanum, a cool, but weird salamander:
Because of their large egg and embryo size, susceptibility to tissue grafting, and ability to regrow severed limbs and tails, "axolotls have a long history as primary amphibian models, especially in research areas involving embryonic development," says Voss. He calls them a "re-emerging model organism" for scientists who study them with gene expression and…
zooillogix | October 31, 2007We get a lot of requests to feature friends pets on Zooillogix. Some people just don't seem to get the fact that their golden retriever does not belong on a site devoted to bizarre zoology (you know who you are Mike Tippet of 2 Third St., Farfield, CT). However, Jennifer's axolotl, Big Ben, is a welcome guest.
Axolotl's are Mexican neotenic mole salamanders, which fail to go through metamorphosis as larvae and therefore retain their gills and aquatic nature. The axolotl was native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in central Mexico, the latter of which no longer exists. However, lucky (?)…