# What is an axolotl?

An episode of [Science for Kids / Science's Not Boring: The Kids Science Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896928296), 14 Aug 2026, 11 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2624612/episodes/19612605-what-is-an-axolotl.mp3

Have you ever heard of a smiling pink salamander that never grows up? Meet the axolotl, the real-life superhero of the animal kingdom! In this amazing episode of Science is Not Boring, Mira and Finn dive into the chilly canals of Lake Xochimilco near Mexico City to uncover the secrets of the world’s weirdest amphibian. Did you know the ancient Aztecs called them "water dogs"? Or that if an axolotl loses a leg, it can completely grow a brand new one in just a few weeks? It is completely true! They use a superpower bump called a blastema to perfectly rebuild their bones and muscles. You will also learn how scientists are studying their giant DNA instruction manual—which is ten times larger than a human's—to learn how they heal without any scars. Plus, discover their secret ninja hunting move called the "suction strike" and find out how these fascinating creatures breathe using three different backup systems! Get ready to explore the wild world of the ultimate water dog and find out why we need to protect their natural habitat. Hit play now and test your knowledge in our fun trivia quiz at the end!

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Science is Not Boring by Kidopoly.com.
[0:03] SPEAKER_00: I'm Mira.
[0:04] SPEAKER_00: And I'm Finn.
[0:06] SPEAKER_00: Before we start, a huge hello to Quinn, who's seven, and Sonny, who's six, in Madison, Wisconsin.
[0:13] SPEAKER_00: They listen every single night before bed.
[0:15] SPEAKER_01: Hi, Quinn and Sonny.
[0:17] SPEAKER_01: You both sent in some amazing questions.
[0:20] SPEAKER_00: Sonny asked, who was the very first astronomer?
[0:24] SPEAKER_00: Well, Sonny, ancient hunter-gatherers were the first to watch the stars move, and the ancient Babylonians were making star charts thousands of years ago.
[0:34] SPEAKER_00: But an ancient Greek scientist named Hipparchus is often called the first true astronomer.
[0:41] SPEAKER_00: Wait, why is he the first?
[0:43] SPEAKER_00: Because he made the very first mathematical star catalogue over 2,100 years ago.
[0:50] SPEAKER_00: He mapped out exactly where over 850 stars were located in the night sky.
[0:56] SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of counting in the dark.
[0:59] SPEAKER_00: And Quinn asked, who first discovered Axolotls and why they are called that?
[1:04] SPEAKER_00: Great Pit, Quinn, because that is exactly what today's episode is all about.
[1:09] SPEAKER_00: Oh, I am so ready for this.
[1:12] SPEAKER_00: Picture a creature that looks like a smiling pink salamander with six feathery pink horns sticking out of its head.
[1:19] SPEAKER_00: Wait, it's always smiling.
[1:22] SPEAKER_00: It looks like it.
[1:23] SPEAKER_00: And if it loses a leg, it doesn't just heel over with a thick scar.
[1:28] SPEAKER_00: It perfectly regrows a brand new leg, bones, muscles, and all.
[1:33] SPEAKER_01: Okay, hold on.
[1:34] SPEAKER_01: A smiling pink amphibian that grows its own legs.
[1:38] SPEAKER_01: Where does this thing live?
[1:40] SPEAKER_01: Is it from an alien planet?
[1:42] SPEAKER_00: It might look alien, but in the wild, the Axolotl lives in only one place on the entire planet Earth.
[1:50] SPEAKER_00: The freshwater canals of Lake Sochimilco, just south of Mexico City.
[1:55] SPEAKER_01: Lake Sochimilco?
[1:57] SPEAKER_01: How big do these guys actually get?
[2:00] SPEAKER_00: They grow up to 30 centimetres long.
[2:03] SPEAKER_00: That's exactly the length of a standard school ruler, and they weigh up to 300 grams.
[2:09] SPEAKER_01: That's about the weight of two medium apples, so they are pretty chunky.
[2:14] SPEAKER_01: Do they live in hot tropical water?
[2:16] SPEAKER_00: Actually, no.
[2:18] SPEAKER_00: The canals are high up in the mountains, about 2,250 metres above sea level.
[2:25] SPEAKER_00: The water is a chilly 14 to 20 degrees Celsius.
[2:29] SPEAKER_00: They absolutely love the cold.
[2:33] SPEAKER_01: 14 degrees Celsius is like 57 degrees Fahrenheit.
[2:37] SPEAKER_01: I definitely need a thick wetsuit.
[2:39] SPEAKER_00: Now, here is the craziest part about their everyday life.
[2:43] SPEAKER_00: Most amphibians, like frogs or other salamanders, are born in the water with gills.
[2:50] SPEAKER_00: Then they grow up, lose their gills, and move on to the dry land.
[2:55] SPEAKER_01: Right, like a tadpole turning into a frog and hopping away.
[2:59] SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
[3:00] SPEAKER_00: But the axolotl has a rare condition called neotony.
[3:04] SPEAKER_00: It stays a baby its whole life.
[3:07] SPEAKER_00: It keeps its feathery gills, lives underwater forever, and never walks on land.
[3:14] SPEAKER_01: So it's basically the pita pan of the animal kingdom.
[3:17] SPEAKER_01: It refuses to grow up.
[3:18] SPEAKER_00: Now to answer Quinn's question about who discovered them.
[3:22] SPEAKER_00: The ancient Aztec people discovered them in those lakes over 700 years ago.
[3:28] SPEAKER_01: Wow! So they've been known by humans for a really long time.
[3:32] SPEAKER_01: But why are they called Axolotls?
[3:35] SPEAKER_00: The name comes from the Aztec language, which is called Nahuatl.
[3:39] SPEAKER_00: In Nahuatl, the word Atl means water.
[3:43] SPEAKER_01: Okay, so water.
[3:45] SPEAKER_01: What's the second part?
[3:47] SPEAKER_00: Cholotl means dog.
[3:49] SPEAKER_00: So Axolotl literally translates to water dog.
[3:54] SPEAKER_01: Water dog! That is the best name ever! Do they bark or act like dogs?
[3:59] SPEAKER_00: Not exactly.
[4:00] SPEAKER_00: The name actually comes from deep inside Aztec mythology.
[4:04] SPEAKER_00: Cholotl was the Aztec god of fire and lightning.
[4:08] SPEAKER_00: According to the legend, he was afraid of being sacrificed.
[4:12] SPEAKER_00: So he disguised himself as a salamander to hide in the dark water.
[4:16] SPEAKER_01: Oh wow! So they were considered magical by the Aztecs.
[4:20] SPEAKER_01: But wait, you said they are pink.
[4:23] SPEAKER_01: How do they hide from predators if they are bright pink?
[4:26] SPEAKER_00: Here's a science secret.
[4:28] SPEAKER_00: Wild axolotls are actually dark brown, olive green, or black.
[4:33] SPEAKER_00: The bright pink ones with black eyes are called leucistic, and they mostly exist because scientists bred them that way after one mutant male was shipped across the ocean to Paris in 1863.
[4:45] SPEAKER_01: That makes total sense.
[4:47] SPEAKER_01: A bright pink salamander in a dark, muddy lake would be an easy, glowing snack for a hungry bird.
[4:53] SPEAKER_00: Speaking of snacks, let's talk about what happens if a fish or a heron bird actually bites off an Axolotl's leg.
[5:01] SPEAKER_01: Oh no, that's what I was worried about.
[5:04] SPEAKER_01: Do they survive a bite like that?
[5:06] SPEAKER_00: They don't just survive, Finn.
[5:08] SPEAKER_00: They do something that makes scientists' jaws drop.
[5:12] SPEAKER_00: Depending on their age, they can grow a perfect new leg in anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
[5:19] SPEAKER_01: A few weeks to a few months?
[5:21] SPEAKER_01: That's incredible! How do they do it without leaving a stump?
[5:25] SPEAKER_00: A famous scientist named Dr.
[5:27] SPEAKER_00: Ellie Tanukka has spent years in her lab studying this exact superpower.
[5:32] SPEAKER_00: When the leg is lost, the axolotl forms a small bump at the stump called a blastema.
[5:39] SPEAKER_00: A blastema?
[5:40] SPEAKER_00: What is that bump made of?
[5:42] SPEAKER_00: It's made of cells that cleverly remember what they are.
[5:45] SPEAKER_00: While dividing and rebuilding the limb, old bone only makes new bone.
[5:51] SPEAKER_00: Then they rebuild the leg completely from scratch.
[5:54] SPEAKER_00: It grows new bones, blood vessels, muscles, and nerves.
[5:59] SPEAKER_01: Wait, they retain their tissue memory instead of resetting their cells?
[6:04] SPEAKER_01: That's mind-blowing.
[6:05] SPEAKER_00: It gets even crazier.
[6:07] SPEAKER_00: Dr.
[6:08] SPEAKER_00: Tanaka's team helped map the Axolotl's entire DNA instruction manual.
[6:13] SPEAKER_00: How big is their instruction manual compared to ours?
[6:16] SPEAKER_00: Humans have about 3.2 billion letters in our DNA code.
[6:20] SPEAKER_00: The Axolotl has 32 billion.
[6:24] SPEAKER_01: 32 billion?
[6:25] SPEAKER_01: That's ten times larger than a human's.
[6:28] SPEAKER_01: Their instruction manual is a giant encyclopedia.
[6:31] SPEAKER_01: Exactly!
[6:32] SPEAKER_00: It was the largest animal genome ever sequenced at the time.
[6:36] SPEAKER_00: Scientists study them because if we can crack the code in that giant instruction manual, maybe doctors could one day help humans heal terrible injuries without scars.
[6:47] SPEAKER_01: So these water dogs are literally helping save the future of medicine.
[6:51] SPEAKER_01: I love them so much.
[6:53] SPEAKER_00: You'll love them even more when you hear how they eat.
[6:56] SPEAKER_00: They have tiny cone-shaped teeth, but they don't chew their food at all.
[7:01] SPEAKER_00: They use a move called a suction strike.
[7:04] SPEAKER_01: A suction strike?
[7:06] SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a secret ninja move.
[7:09] SPEAKER_00: It is! They open their mouths so incredibly fast that it creates a vacuum underwater.
[7:15] SPEAKER_00: It sucks the water and their prey right into their belly.
[7:19] SPEAKER_01: Slurp.
[7:20] SPEAKER_01: Goodbye earthworms, bugs, and tiny fish.
[7:24] SPEAKER_00: Yep, and they also have a triple breathing superpower.
[7:28] SPEAKER_00: They can breathe through the six feathery gills on their heads, they can absorb oxygen right through their skin, and they have small lungs to gulp air at the surface.
[7:38] SPEAKER_01: Gills, skin and lungs?
[7:41] SPEAKER_01: They have backup systems for their backup systems.
[7:44] SPEAKER_01: But are they safe in the wild today?
[7:46] SPEAKER_00: Sadly, no.
[7:48] SPEAKER_00: Because Mexico City has grown so much and the water has gotten polluted, there are only between 50 and 1,000 adult axolotls left in the wild.
[7:58] SPEAKER_00: They are critically endangered.
[8:01] SPEAKER_01: Oh no! But there are millions of them in pet tanks and science labs around the world, right?
[8:06] SPEAKER_00: Yes, they will absolutely survive in captivity.
[8:09] SPEAKER_00: But scientists are working very hard to clean up the canals of Lake Sochimilko to save their natural home.
[8:16] SPEAKER_00: Alright, Finn, it's quiz time.
[8:18] SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to test your knowledge?
[8:21] SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'm ready.
[8:22] SPEAKER_01: Let's do this.
[8:23] SPEAKER_00: First question.
[8:24] SPEAKER_00: What does the Aztec Nahuatl name, Axolotl, translate to in English?
[8:33] SPEAKER_00: Next one.
[8:34] SPEAKER_00: Where is the only place in the wild that axolotls naturally live?
[8:42] SPEAKER_00: Question three.
[8:44] SPEAKER_00: What is the bump of cells called that forms when an axolotl regrows a missing leg?
[8:52] SPEAKER_00: Here's number four.
[8:54] SPEAKER_00: How many times larger is the axolotl's DNA instruction manual compared to a human's DNA?
[9:04] SPEAKER_00: Last question.
[9:06] SPEAKER_00: What is the axolotl's vacuum-like hunting move called?
[9:13] SPEAKER_00: Great job, let's see how you did.
[9:16] SPEAKER_00: The first answer is Axolotl translates to water dog.
[9:21] SPEAKER_00: For question two, the only place they live in the wild is Lake Xochimilco near Mexico City.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: Number three, the answer is the bump of regenerating cells is called a blastoma.
[9:36] SPEAKER_00: Question four.
[9:37] SPEAKER_00: Their DNA is ten times larger than a human's, with 32 billion letters.
[9:44] SPEAKER_00: And the final answer is their vacuum hunting move is called a suction strike.
[9:50] SPEAKER_01: I got most of those.
[9:52] SPEAKER_01: Axolotls are basically real-life superheroes with their regeneration powers and giant instruction manuals.
[9:59] SPEAKER_00: Haha, they really are.
[10:01] SPEAKER_00: I just hope the conservation teams can save their canal home in Mexico so they stay in the wild forever.
[10:07] SPEAKER_01: Me too.
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: They belong in the wild, not just in tanks.
[10:11] SPEAKER_01: Hey, if you think Axolotors are as awesome as we do, please leave us a five-star review.
[10:17] SPEAKER_00: Yes! Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap the stars.
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com, where we have tons of fun learning games and activities waiting for you.
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: And if you want a shout out on the show, like Quinn and Sonny did today, or you just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com.
[10:38] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for exploring the amazing world of amphibians with us today.
[10:42] SPEAKER_00: See you next time on Science Is Not Boring.
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: Bye everyone, keep exploring.

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