Terra Natura Benidorm has incorporated into its biological collection four specimens of albino axolotl (ambystoma mexicanum), a species that keeps its young appearance from birth until the end of its life. Its high capacity for regeneration has made it objective of study of some scientific research, as the study of its genomics can help advance tissue engineering to create organs in vitro and treat different types of cancer.
The axolotl will be exposed in the volcano at the entrance as these animals feel more comfortable in the dark. They will live in an aquarium recreating their natural habitat.
Although they maintain their larval shape from birth, there are situations like changes in temperature, drought or water pollution where they can make an evolutionary metamorphosis to adapt to the terrestrial environment and survive resembling more salamanders.
It is one of the animals most studied by scientists worldwide due to its regenerative capacity that allows it to restore parts of its body as limbs and also organs like the heart, brain, retina, liver, etc.
This species, endemic to central Mexico, lives about 20 years and can measure up to 30 centimeters, eats worms, larvae and insects. Axolotls are amphibians with tail and their name means aquatic monster. The female deposits about 500 eggs and in only 15 days complete the breeding.