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This is so unlikely to happen. There is a good chance that they are not as rare as we currently think, at least in that particular area.
by nom 6mo ago
This is so unlikely to happen. There is a good chance that they are not as rare as we currently think, at least in that particular area.
- culi 6mo agoThey are unique to like 2 lakes in Mexico. This is someone's pet that they dumped there. It would not have survived more than a week in Wales had it not been found.
- prmoustache 6mo agoThere were more than 2 lakes but the specy is almost extinct so these areas are where you can still find some.
- culi 6mo agoWell it's native to the Xochimilco "lake system". Sometimes its hard to say what's a different lake or not but it's the same system of lakes. They also used to be in Lake Chalco which at certain times of the year could connect into the same lake as Xochimilco. Regardless, it's always been a tiny range
- prmoustache 6mo agoMy understanding is they were in other mountainous areas as well in central Mexico but their habitat was much more reduced there so they went extinct even faster. one example: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382147531_Chronicle_of_an_extinction_foretold_the_case_of_the_axolotl_Ambystoma_velasci_in_Sierra_Gorda_de_Guanajuato https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382147531_Chronicle...
- culi 6mo agoThis paper is about the closely related Ambystoma velasci. The axolotl is Ambystoma mexicanum. They are closely related enough that there's some evidence of hybridization but they are separate species. A. velasci is not endangered.
- prmoustache 6mo agoA. Velasci is definitely endangered in its natural habitats and it was also called Axolotl in nahuatl. I don't think it is interesting to argue if there is one axolotl that is more important than the others, even if the one from Xochimilco has the particularity of staying in its larval state.
- culi 6mo agoAmbystoma velasci is actually classified as "Least Concern" by the IUCN https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/62130287/53974804 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/62130287/53974804 I'm not arguing one is more important than the other but only one of them is critically endangered and only one of them is a powerful cultural indigenous symbol. Ambystoma velasci is also an "actual" salamander. The unique thing about the axolotl is that it never goes to the stage where it leaves the water. It is the only salamander species known to do this.
- codezero 6mo agoI think it likely speaks to how much more common they are as exotic pets than they have been in the past. That she found it before it died is surprising, and the longer I think about this story the longer I wonder if they just bought it as a pet and the river discovery was a gag for online clout.
- kreyenborgi 6mo agoOne in a million chances happen nine times out of ten. Especially with 8 billion humans wandering around.
- rishikeshs 6mo agowhy is your reply faded
- MetalSnake 6mo agoThat means it is downvoted