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Axolotls in the wild

optimist

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I've read here that axolotls still living in the wild look different to the captive bred ones we all have, so I googled to try to find some images of the wild ones, but found nothing. Anyone know where pictures of wild axolotls living in their Mexican lakes can be viewed?
 

ferret_corner

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The closest I have found so far is...

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_532b8f610100b979.html

A lot of websites like to show the leucistic axolotl - calling it cute, etc I'm sure for visual appeal, all the while talking about the extinction of the axolotl and the loss of its natural habitat.

You might try adding "archive" to your search. Since most of the newstories I find in recent posts say something to the effect of "fisherman almost never find them".

Or since google (i think) posts most recent listings, you might try jumping back 20+ pages, etc, looking for older news stories.

I give up. lol all I've found are various copies of the same two or three news articles with the same pictures or no pictures. But have a look at this interesting brown specimin....

http://seapics.com/feature-subject/amphibians/axolotl-pictures.html
 

optimist

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Hi Sharon. In the hour since I posted I've been working my way through google. Thanks for the links though. The man with his fished-out doll collection is pretty unique!
 

ferret_corner

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In the 30+ windows I have open in the search for a "wild" axolotl - in which a surprising number of them are leucistic (sarcasm) I lost track of what I was doing where and its funny how many pages lead back to caudata and accidentally posted above without finishing.....

.. the doll collection was one mans' attempt to appease the ghost of a girl child who drowned on his property. And its still creepy looking as heck to me.

With all I've read about axolotls I finally know where they came from. LOL yeah yeah lakes in Mexico - but I meant the original specimens sent to Paris.

Eventually I gave up on finding a wild axolotl in Lake Xochimilco . I also used Xochimilco Canal(s) in the search. And the search morhphed into finding a representation of the animals sent to Jardin des Plantes in Paris and got nothing. I am seeing a large number of names/words I recognize and then drift off on tangents to see why I know those names/words. Dumeril was one, lol first thing that popped into my head was the dumeril boa. And isn't there a newt or salamander with that name in it?

Seriously I've blown my entire sunday looking for a picture of an axolotl in its native habitat (yeah I used that search phrase too) I even started to look for a phone number to the mexican zoo that was mentioned in the first link I sent. I was going to have a hispanic friend of mine do the talking, lol and find out where they got their specimens from. And every time I search for "fisherman with axolotl" I get the same article and phrase "roberto... axololt enchilada... taco..." LOL blah blah blah dangit!

I probably won't stop looking and I have this hinky feeling that there is a book with pictures of what we're looking for - I've seen reference to it here and there - but for now I think I'm gonna take a break. I don't recall ever being so stumped on such a simple search. Its not extinct yet in the wild there SHOULD be at least a single picture of the animal in its native habitat, and yet I can't find it. Its a puzzle and its driving me nuts.

SO! If you find it, please post it back here!

Sharon
 

optimist

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Hi Sharon
I'm ashamed to report how many fruitless hours I spent yesterday searching the web, using different search engines and different phrasings of "wild axolotl in its native habitat". I agree, almost all axolotl threads lead back to this site (Rome and roads), but it seems so odd that there apparently is not a single image of a wild axolotl in all the billions and trillions of web images out there. Maybe it's too late, and they are already extinct in the wild! I'll keep looking and will let you know if I hit pay dirt. Diana
 

shellysue

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I vote we get David Attenborough on to finding one in the last remaining lake/river/canal they now inhabit. Can the group please put in a request:smile:
sue
 

Kerry1968

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slowfoot

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I've worked with wild axolotls before. They look pretty much the same as a wild-type domesticated axolotl, just lankier and with larger gills. For pictures, you might try contacting Dr. Randal Voss at the University of Kentucky (he works with the axolotl colony). He might have some pictures of wild-caught A. mexicanum.
 

optimist

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David Attentborough is a good idea. :D Erin, do you happen to have any photos of the wild ones you could post, so we can see them? Good idea about Dr Voss -- I'll try there. This is turning into an obsession:crazy:
 
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