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The amphibian that never grew up is on the verge of going extinct in the wild. New survey work suggests that fewer than 1,200 Mexican axolotls remain in its last stronghold, the Xochimilco area of central Mexico. The axolotl is a type of salamander that uniquely spends its whole life in its larval form. Its odd lifestyle, features and ability to regenerate body parts make it a popular animal kept in labs, schools and as pets. But in the wild, the future is bleak for this "Peter Pan" of animals.

Tissues in axolotl amputees regenerate themselves by “memory” Given a chance to regrow a limb, salamanders don’t change a thing. Since the 18th century, scientists have puzzled over how salamanders regenerate amputated limbs and have looked for clues to regrow human limbs. Researchers thought they knew part of the answer: Cells at the wound site would lose their identities as they turned back their developmental clocks to become pluripotent stem cells — capable of developing into many cell types in the body — and then recreate the lost limb. But a new study published July 2 in Nature and led...

Cell tracking shows that axolotl cells in a regrowing leg retain distinct roles. The amazing axolotl - legless, but never for long.Wikimedia Commons Salamanders have the ability to regrow amputated limbs – but what stops a tail growing from the stump, instead of a leg? A team of scientists are now a step closer to the answer. They studied tissue regeneration in axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum), salamanders endemic to Mexico. The creatures heal so well because the muscle, bone and skin cells nearest to the amputation site revert into a more generic form, forming a clump of adult stem cells called...