North AmericaCritically endangered
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
A salamander that never grows up: it keeps its feathery gills and lives in water all its life.
- Weight
- Up to 200 g
- Size
- Up to 30 cm long
- Lifespan
- 10–15 years
- Top speed
- Slow swimmer
- Diet
- Worms, insects, small fish
How heavy is that?
So light that a 40 kg kid weighs as much as 200 of them
Where it lives
Three things to know
- It can regrow its legs, its tail and even parts of its heart.
- It lives in the wild only in the canals of Xochimilco, in Mexico City.
- Its 'smile' and frilly gills make it very popular.
Compare with…
- Weight
- Axolotl200 gA 10-year-old kid40 kgThe kid weighs about 200× as much as the axolotl
- Size
- Axolotl30 cmA 10-year-old kid1.4 mThe kid is about 5× as big as the axolotl
- Top speed
- Axolotl—A 10-year-old kid20 km/hToo slow to time
- Lifespan
- Axolotl15 yrsA 10-year-old kid80 yrsThe kid can live about 5× as long as the axolotl
Food chain
- Tiny algaeProducer
- Earthworms
AxolotlThis animal- Heron