AXOLOTL

CHARACTERISTICS: At first sight it looks like a giant tadpole. Its body is elongated, with a compact trunk, large head with small eyes and no eyelids. It has a mouth of great capacity and diminutive teeth which are in rows at the entrance of the oral cavity. Its tongue is retractile (like frogs). On the neck it has three pairs of external lateral gills.
DIET: Carnivorous: it feeds on small fish, insects, worms, slugs, snails, earthworms, tadpoles...
REPRODUCTION: Curiously, the axolotl has developed the capacity to mature sexually and reproduce whilst preserving its larval state or the majority of its facets. There is a mature state: some individuals reach maturity, but in an irregular fashion, and so, in the wild, the larval or semi-larval axolotl is common and of lighter colour.
CURIOSITIES: The regenerative capacity of the axolotl has led to it being in danger of extinction, due to its disproportionate exploitation for medicinal purposes. It is an important animal for research and it has been used in studies on the regulation of genetic expression, embryology, neurobiology and regeneration. Its name comes from the god Xolotl, brother of Quetzalcoatl and patron of the dead and resuscitated.