Stats

Lifespan: 10-15 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: Central Mexico
Movement: Swimming
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Critically Endangered

About

A neotenic salamander endemic to the lake complex of Xochimilco in Mexico City. Famous for retaining its feathery external gills into adulthood and for being able to regenerate entire limbs, parts of its heart, and even sections of its brain.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2.
tadpole
A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3.
juvenile
A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4.
adult
Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Ambystomatidae
Genus: Ambystoma
Species: Ambystoma mexicanum