90% of people don't know that this cute creature with a baby face is actually a common "guinea pig" in the laboratory, which is called a salamander.
Unlike other amphibians, salamanders grow very uniquely, for example, tadpoles will undergo deformation and develop into frogs, it can be said that frogs are old tadpoles, while salamanders are different, maintaining a young larval appearance at all stages of their lives.
The salamander has attracted generations of admirers with its grin, pink feathered gill headdress and frantic underwater dance.
Salamanders are a popular pet, especially in Japan, where they are bred so widely that some restaurants also serve them on the table.
Salamanders eat anything they can catch, including fish, worms, mollusks, and even insects on the surface of the water. They are preyed on by sea bass and tilapia, as well as birds, both of which are invasive species.
It has to be said that salamanders have unique genetic characteristics and the potential to unlock the secrets of evolution and regeneration, and they are also often assigned to laboratories for research, so much so that they are basically amphibian guinea mice.
But few people realize that in nature, salamanders are in danger. Native only to Lake Xochimilco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site outside Mexico City, it has long played an important role in Mexican tradition. There, it is on the brink of extinction.
Peculiar amphibians.
Salamanders are amphibians that do not deform naturally. Unlike other amphibians, other amphibians have gills when they are juveniles and live underwater, but later they lose their gills, grow lungs, and live on land as adults.
However, salamanders retain their gills and continue to live in water as adults. Their gills are their most recognizable feature, as they look like slender feathers and 6 beautiful wings.
Salamanders also develop lungs. Although their main way of breathing is through their gills, they also occasionally use their lungs to inhale air from the surface of the water. Because they have lived in water all their lives, they always swim with their tails and webbed feet.
Adult salamanders generally grow an average of about 23 centimeters. Their body color varies from pink to brownish-green, and because of the shape of their mouth, they often look like they're smiling, so they're popular.
Status of salamanders.
In the wild, salamanders are found only in a lake outside Mexico City, known as Lake Xochimilco. But Lake Xochimilco is suffering.
The lake's ecosystem is highly eutrophic, meaning it is so rich in nutrients from agricultural runoff that thriving plant life exterminates other endemic species by stripping them of oxygen.
In addition, invasive Asian carp and tilapia, which have now replaced salamanders as apex predators, are known for preying on delicious juvenile fish. And Mexico City's pollution is also a problem: Severe storms can cause the city's sewer system to overflow and discharge human waste into Lake Xochimilco.
The skin of salamanders, on the other hand, is highly permeable, so they are particularly vulnerable to ammonia, heavy metals and other toxins carried by human waste.
Meanwhile, Mexico City is expanding rapidly, with outlying areas like Xochimilco becoming hotbeds of both legal and illegal development.
In 2006, salamanders were declared critically endangered due to habitat degradation and the prevalence of invasive fish in lakes, and in 2009, experts estimated that salamander populations had declined by 90% in the last four years, a decline further exacerbated by urbanization. By 2015, scientists thought the creature might have become completely extinct in the wild.
At present, salamanders are very popular in captivity. They can be found in homes and aquariums around the world. This is because they are hardy, easy to breed, and cute enough that many people want to own one.
In addition, salamanders are also very interesting for biology, and can be said to be common "guinea pigs" in laboratories, because like other salamanders, salamanders have the extraordinary ability to regenerate missing body parts.
When a salamander loses limbs or crushes the spine, it is able to regenerate lost or damaged body parts with amazing perfection. Scientists have seen that these creatures can regenerate complete limbs in just 40 days, and scientists hope that through research, humans can also have powerful regenerative abilities like salamanders.
Despite their large numbers of captive salamanders, they are listed as critically endangered. Wild populations of salamanders are declining due to a combination of habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. Very few survived, with fewer than 1,000 salamanders left in the wild.
