00:00Adulting? Never heard of her. Meet the axolotl, or Mexican salamander, the amphibian that never
00:06grows up. Unlike other salamanders, axolotls are neotenic. This describes an organism that
00:12keeps its juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Axolotls keep their feathery gills, fins and tails,
00:18rather than metamorphosing into a lands-dwelling adult like most amphibians. Wild Mexican salamanders
00:23are found in only two lakes near Mexico City, and are considered critically endangered,
00:27with pollution and evasive predators driving the species decline. The International Union
00:33for Conservation of Nature estimates that only 50 to 1,000 mature adults remain in the world.
00:38They are famously known for their ability to regenerate parts of their body, including their
00:42limbs, heart tissue and bits of their brain. Axolotls can even mobilize stem cells,
00:48cells that can pretty much form into any cell necessary, to repair an injured spinal cord.
00:53And axolotls don't stop with the regeneration of their own body parts. Scientists have found that
00:57all kinds of organs can be transplanted between axolotls without rejection by the recipient body's
01:02immune system. In 1968, researchers showed that they could even transplant the head of one axolotl
01:08to another axolotl, and it functioned normally. These abilities make axolotls attractive model
01:13organisms for scientists. They have contributed to huge swaths of research in regenerative biology,
01:19especially for medical applications. For more amazing animals, head to lifescience.com
