The axolotl is endemic to an area in central Mexico less than 10km² on the southern edge of Mexico City.
Category: FaunaFacts
FaunaFocus releases a new FaunaFact every single day! These bite-sized bits of information are interesting facts paired with a unique image of that animal.
Axolotl
The nahuatl word "axolotl" describes an animal transformed from the Aztec god, Xolotl, brother to Quetzacoatl.
Axolotl
Axolotls can live as long as 10-15 years, but expected laboratory longevity is only 5-6 years.
Axolotl
It's estimated that fewer than 100 axolotls remain in the wild, making the salamander one of Latin America’s most threatened amphibians.
Axolotl
Axolotls generally breed between March and June and seem to "waltz" and "hula dance" during courtship.
Axolotl
Desiccation, pollution, bacterial contamination, and disease, resulting from urbanization, pose serious threats to the axolotl.
Axolotl
A species action plan focusing on conservation education, habitat restoration, and bioremediation has been drafted to help conservation actions for the axolotl.
Axolotl
Axolotls can detect electrical fields.
Axolotl
"Axolotl" is a specific species of aquatic salamander, although the name is mistakenly and erroneously used to refer to other species.
Axolotl
Metamorphosis can be artificially induced in axolotls via thyroid hormone injections.
Axolotl
No popular experimental animal is more misunderstood or more diversely treated taxonomically than the axolotl.
Axolotl
Axolotl are preyed on by large fish, such as Asian carp and African tilapia.
Axolotl
There are no negative effects of axolotls on humans.
Axolotl
Axolotls are solitary and may be active at any time of the day.
Red Panda
There is no sexual dimorphism in the size or color of red pandas.
Red Panda
Native names applied to the red panda include lesser panda, fire fox, bear cat, wah, ye, nigalya ponya, thokya, woker, sankam, and wokdonka.
Red Panda
Young red pandas attain adult size at 12 months and are sexually mature by 18 months.
Red Panda
Red pandas have semi-retractile claws used effectively in climbing.
Red Panda
In captivity, male red pandas can be left with females year-round, but females left together in the same enclosure may steal or kill each other's young.
Red Panda
At birth, red pandas are born with closed ears and eyes and have a gray-buff coat lacking adult coloration and markings.
Red Panda
In captivity, red pandas live well in mixed-sex groups, but in the wild, they remain solitary.
Red Panda
Since its discovery in the early 1800's, the taxonomic classification of the red panda has been a subject of almost as much debate as the placement of the giant panda.
Red Panda
The reddish-orange and white pelage of the red panda provides it camouflage in the reddish-brown moss and white lichens of fir trees.
Red Panda
The red panda's diet is 98% bamboo, but the panda also consumes small mammals, birds, eggs, blossoms, leaves, bark, fruit, and berries.
Red Panda
The red panda's tail is not prehensile and makes up 40% of its total length.
Red Panda
Red pandas are scansorial, but forage primarily on the ground.
Red Panda
The functional purpose of the red panda having a left lung divided into two lobes, unlike the four in the right lung, is unknown.
Red Panda
Male red pandas rarely interact with their young, but have been observed sleeping or playing with them in captivity.
Red Panda
Red pandas are arboreal and prefer residing in conifer or fir trees.
Red Panda
Because of its scarcity, an intensive international breeding program was established for the red panda in more than 30 zoos.
Red Panda
Red pandas are nocturnal and crepuscular, being most active at dawn, dusk, and night, and are polyphasic, sleeping at multiple times throughout the day.
Red Panda
Generally, mortality in red pandas is similar to that of other mammals, but is higher in males.
Red Panda
Structural homologies and functional similarities exist between some vocalizations of the red panda and those of the giant panda, Ailuropoda, and Procyonidae.