Axolotl Studies (Patreon)

They're funky little creatures!

Some fun facts I came across during my research:

They are one of the few species of salamander that never goes through a metamorphosis reaching sexual maturity, keeping their gills. This is because they lack the thyroid stimulating hormone that is required for metamorphosis. If they are given this hormone artificially, they will undergo metamorphosis and take on an appearance more like other salamander species.

There are presumed to be as few as 50-1000 adult axolotls in the wild.

There is a large captive population used in scientific research, because of their unusual ability to regenerate their body parts, including limbs, organs, and even certain parts of their brains.

They can subtly alter their color by changing the size and thickness of their melanophores, similar to a cephalopod's chromatophores.

The axolotl genome is about 10x the size of the human genome.

Most captive axolotls are descended from a single group of under 36 individuals.