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Not an axolotl, but mud puppies live as far north as Canada and have external gills: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_mudpuppy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
by zeckalpha 5mo ago
Not an axolotl, but mud puppies live as far north as Canada and have external gills: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_mudpuppy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_mudpuppy
Olm in the Balkans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olm picture: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P_anguinus-head1.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P_anguinus-head1.jpg
- culi 5mo agoVery cool but yes very much not an axolotl. An axolotl is a salamander that has evolved neoteny (imagine a frog staying as a tadpole its whole life). It's also specifically adapted to a specific lake system in Mexico City. If it is kept in water under 57°F (14°C) it will die in a few days. They are also extremely sensitive to changes in the water quality or chemistry. It's not clear that this one will even survive after being rescued
- awakeasleep 5mo agoI’m surprised no one is bringing up the possibility that this is just a salamander in its axolotl looking stage of life.
- Someone 5mo agoFTA: the nine-inch Mexican axolotl There aren’t many baby salamanders that size, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_giant_salamander#Breeding_and_lifecycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_giant_salamander#Breed... says “external gills remain until a length of about 20 cm (8 in) at an age of 3 years”, so it could be. I wouldn’t know whether these look similar, though.
- zeckalpha 5mo agoSure, but mud puppies and Olm also exhibit neoteny.
- Suppafly 5mo ago>An axolotl is a salamander that has evolved neoteny That's not that rare, all sorts of different salamanders exhibit neoteny.