The axolotl

Once again I am faced with the problem of how to start a blog post. Maybe I'll write a post about how difficult it is, sometime.

Anyway.

Today, thanks to Google Drive, I ran into this weird animal called the axolotl. Yes, that's actually a name of a species. I'd like to talk about them for a while, simply because they have a weird name and are kinda weird looking, and weird animals are awesome.

Here, I drew a picture of an axolotl for you:

(Time well spent not studying.)



If you want a better one, you gotta google it. You should.









Axolotls are a type of salamander, that are critically endangered and live in lakes in Mexico. That's why they're also called Mexican salamanders. Or Mexican walking fish.
Axolotls are about 20-30 cm long, and they look a lot like salamander larvae (=something like a tadpole, since salamanders are amphibians). Unlike other salamanders, they just never go through metamorphosis (which means they exhibit neoteny. Yeah, a completely new word for me too.) so they never grow into full salamanders in the same sense as other salamanders, but stay in a form that has gills (that are the weird tentacly things at the side of it's head) and no eyelids and half-legs (since they're not actually proper legs, but it's something...) and lives in water full-time.
Also, about my picture, the axolotls aren't usually pink, but brown or black. The pink ones are mutated, and there can also be albinos that I guess are even lighter.

The name of the species, axolotl, which I still find really weird, comes from I think the Nahuatl (a language native to the Mexico area) word for "water monster". I don't know about you, but I don't think it looks much like a monster.

The axolotl are carnivorous animals. They eat worms and little fish and stuff. But they don't really have teeth, so they eat by just sucking in what ever they're eating at the moment.

Also, you can have axolotls as pets.

I don't know what else. This information is brought to you by wikipedia (and, well, me), go see that if you want to know something else.

Axolotls are weird, and weird animals are cool.
Weird things in the nature are cool. Which is why I want to study biology.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have two more exams to take before Thursday evening, and I'm pretty sure reading about axolotls won't help with that.
Speaking of which (=Thursday evening), I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't write next week. Because, you know, not much point. But you should write on Friday, simply so that I won't write two in a row. And if you wrote it in the middle of the night like you did that one time, I could actually read it before leaving for the train. Not saying you should. Just stating a fact.
I'll see you on... Friday? Saturday? How long are the flights? We'd have 16 and a half hours after the plain leaves and it's still Friday there, so I'm guessing Friday. But I have no idea how long time we're gonna be stuck in... Reykjavik? Yeah, I'm well on board with this. I'm counting on mom knowing so I can just follow her. At least I know what time the first plain leaves. But we'd have to stop for a reeeaaaally long time somewhere if we wouldn't be there already on Friday evening.
So.... Yeah.

Bye.

~matu