AnimalvsAnimal
2Axolotl๐ŸฆŽ

Photo: Scazon ยท CC BY 2.0

SpeciesCaudataAmbystomatidae
Amphibians

๐ŸฆŽAxolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum (Shaw & Nodder, 1798)

The axolotl is a species of mole salamander. It is neotenic, reaching sexual maturity without undergoing metamorphosis, and the adults remain fully aquatic with obvious external gills. Axolotls may be difficult to distinguish from the larval stage of other neotenic adult mole salamanders, in particular the tiger salamander, or other species such as mudpuppies.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
52
Photos
6
Measurements
3
Conservation status
CRCritically endangered

IUCN Red List assessment, 2020.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
not recorded
Body length
0.3 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
17 years
All measurements โ†“
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Axolotl

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body length
0.3 m
AmphiBIO
Details โ†“

Source: AmphiBIO ยท v1 (Oliveira et al. 2017) ยท CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
17 yearsrecord 17 years ยท AmphiBIO
AnAge
Details โ†“

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge ยท AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) ยท CC BY 3.0

Gestation
18 days
AnAge
Details โ†“

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge ยท AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) ยท CC BY 3.0

Not recorded for Axolotl yet: body mass, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. โ€บphylumChordata
  3. โ€บclassAmphibia
  4. โ€บorderCaudata
  5. โ€บfamilyAmbystomatidae
  6. โ€บgenusAmbystoma
  7. โ€บspeciesAmbystoma mexicanum
Full lineage
  1. classAmphibians ยท Amphibia
  2. orderSalamanders & newts ยท Caudata
  3. familyAmbystomatidae
  4. genusAmbystoma
All 13 branches โ†“
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classAmphibians ยท Amphibia
  9. superorderBatrachia
  10. orderSalamanders & newts ยท Caudata
  11. superfamilySalamandroidea
  12. familyAmbystomatidae
  13. genusAmbystoma
More

More about the Axolotl

Closest relative on this site
๐ŸฆŽ Alpine newt โ€” last shared an ancestor โ‰ˆ 149 million years ago.
In other languages
Ambystoma mexicanum (es), ๅขจ่ฅฟๅ“ฅ้’ๅฃ่žˆ (zh), Ambystoma meksykaล„ska (pl), ์•„ํ™€๋กœํ‹€ (ko), ืืงืกื•ืœื•ื˜ืœ ืžืงืกื™ืงื ื™ (he), Axolotl (fr) โ€ฆ and 27 more languages
More photos
2AxolotlAjolote albinoAmbystoma mexicanum Natural History Museum University of Pisa (cropped)
All 6 photos in the gallery โ†’

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site โ€” hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

See all 52 videos โ†’
Graphic clips stay hidden unless you pick Graphic.
Tools

Compare the Axolotl

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Side by side

Compare every stat with any other animal.

1,697 animals to compareOpen โ†’
Who's bigger?

Stand them on the same floor and see who's bigger.

Weight not recordedOpen โ†’
Scaling lab

How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.

Not in the sampleOpen โ†’
Tree of life

See where it sits in the tree of life.

13 branchesOpen โ†’