The Axolotl, a crucially endangered neotenous species of mole salamander, has adapted to fit its environment so it can easily catch food and evade predators. The Axolotl’s habitat is the lake system of Xochimilco that is near Mexico City, Mexico. This shallow, fresh water lake complex has a temperature range of 6- 20°C and a pH of 7- 12. The complex also has the Axolotl’s primary food sources of mollusk, insect larvae, and other crustaceans. However, with the introduction of foreign species such as the Asian Carp and the African Tilapia, the Axolotl now has predators that may eat and threaten it, and it has competition for the animals it usually eats. Fortunately, the Axolotl has developed adaptations that aid it in catching food and evading predators. To help it catch food the Axolotl’s teeth are shaped like cones, so that its “vacuum” action of sucking in as much water in order to also eat food is aided by the shape of the teeth, which allow it to grip, rather than chew. To aid them in avoiding predators they are able to metamorphose so that they use their lungs more than their gill, which allows them to leave very toxic waters and the predators within. Another adaption that helps them deflect any predator is that they are able to regenerate body parts that have been lost, allowing them to stay as strong as possible. Axolotl’s have adaptations that aid their survival from predators in the lake complex Xochimilco that they reside in.
The adaptations that the Axolotl’s have strongly increase their chances of survival and their overall fitness. The Axolotl’s cone shaped teeth allows them to catch food so that they may easily do their “vacuum” action to eat food. This favorable trait grips whatever food they are going to eat, so th...
... middle of paper ...
...current adaptations and those positive results from the adaptations far outweigh negative consequences on the species.
Works Cited
"Mexican Axolotls, Mexican Axolotl Pictures, Mexican Axolotl Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. .
Clare, John. "Food for Axolotls." Axolotls. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. .
Clare, John. "Metamorphosed Axolotls & Tiger Salamanders." Axolotls. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. .
Erelli, Mark. "Mole Salamanders." Mole Salamanders. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. .
"Tiger Salamander: Amphibians." Tiger Salamander. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. .
Carlos and Javier are two men living in the city of Juchit∫n, Mexico. They work at a small hotel just off the z-calo, the main town square. Sometimes they converge with other men outside the hotel to watch people as they walk past in the z-calo. As nearly anywhere in Mexico, the men comment and nudge each other when an attractive woman passes, but Carlos and Javier remain silent throughout the exchange. It is not until an attractive young man walks by that they speak up. ãÃUy, que guapo!ä Carlos exclaims: ãAh, how handsome!äÊ Carlos and Javier are muxeâ, the effeminate male homosexuals of Isthmus Zapotec culture.
Pianka, E. and Hodges, W. 1995. Horned Lizards. University of Texas. Web. Accessed at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/phryno.html
Mexicans, as constructed by Menchaca, are a predominantly mestizo population whose mixed ancestry she traces to early Latin American civilizations. In 200 BC the largest city in the Americas, Teotihuacán, was founded. Teotihuacán would one day be the site of Mexico City, and by 650 AD there were between 120,000 and 250,000 inhabitants. (2) Groups that inhabited the region fro...
Mexico is boarded by the United States of America, Belize and Guatemala. Mexico has a very diverse landscape of mountains, plateaus, deserts, tropical jungles, and even beautiful Palm beaches. With its diverse climate, Mexico also has a diverse population of plants. In desert areas, the most common plants that are found include cac...
Hurry up! Time is running out for the Mexican axolotls. If you don't protect them, they’ll become extinct. The Mexican axolotl is considered a critically endangered species. However, they are protected by some groups. The Mexican axolotl is one of the most scientifically studied animals because it is the one of the only species that can regenerate limbs after they lose them.
Through specific diction, Gould and Lewontin create a distinction between their views and the adaptationist programme. The adaptationist programme is "truly [a] Panglossian Paradigm” (Gould and Lewontin, 344). This gives a negative connotation to these evolutionary scholars and it places them on an opposing side of evolution; natural selection versus the pluralistic. The authors make them out to be enemies by questioning these modern evolutionary scholars' reliance on adaptations. This negative meaning makes readers see that the problems with adaptation is its idea of perfection, each trait of adaptation is used to explain every action an organism carries out. Gould and Lewontin are able to both attack and defend their views when they say that "each trait plays its part and must be as it is." (Gould and Lewontin, 344). They do this by making fun of the idea that each trait is ma...
Mexico’s has a rich history, culture, economy, and government. Prior to the Spanish arrival, Mexico was habited by Indian groups with varying economic and political systems. The communities that lived in the north comprised of gatherers and hunters. However, agriculturalists populated the rest of the country. They were a dense population and were characterized by varying cultures (Miller, 2015). The county has developed tremendously since the Spanish conquest. The government has also changed continuously over the years.
The Artemia franciscana can survive in extreme conditions of salinity, water depth, and temperature (Biology 108 laboratory manual, 2010), but do A. franciscana prefer these conditions or do they simply cope with their surroundings? This experiment explored the extent of the A. franciscanas preference towards three major stimuli: light, temperature, and acidity. A. franciscana are able to endure extreme temperature ranges from 6 ̊ C to 40 ̊ C, however since their optimal temperature for breeding is about room temperature it can be inferred that the A. franciscana will prefer this over other temperatures (Al Dhaheri and Drew, 2003). This is much the same in regards to acidity as Artemia franciscana, in general thrive in saline lakes, can survive pH ranges between 7 and 10 with 8 being ideal for cysts(eggs) to hatch (Al Dhaheri and Drew, 2003). Based on this fact alone the tested A. franciscana should show preference to higher pH levels. In nature A. franciscana feed by scraping food, such as algae, of rocks and can be classified as a bottom feeder; with this said, A. franciscana are usually located in shallow waters. In respect to the preference of light intensity, A. franciscana can be hypothesized to respond to light erratically (Fox, 2001; Al Dhaheri and Drew, 2003). Using these predictions, and the results of the experimentation on the A. franciscana and stimuli, we will be able to determine their preference towards light, temperature, and pH.
Gould, Edwin, George McKay, and David Kirshner. Encyclopedia of Mammals. San Francisco, CA: Fog City, 2003. Print.
International Congress of Mexican History. Contemporary Mexico: Papers of the IV International Congress of Mexican History. Berkley, University of California Press, 1976
Most people think that sharks are large, fast-swimmers, and savage predators. This is true of some species and groups should be interested of the appealing aspects of biology found within it: all sharks have an excellent sense of smell; some can detect electrical discharges; some sharks give birth to one of the
Mexicanas, su gente, su geografia, su flora; “Guadalajara, que justo titulo puede llamarse la reina de Occidente... semejante a una mujer dotada de hermosura regia...”(11). Y continua describiendo otros aspectos de Mexico los cuales
Atelerix albiventris, also commonly known as the four-toed hedgehog, is a fascinating organism with a plethora of intriguing characteristics. The hierarchical classification of this organism is as follows: Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Insectivora, family Erinaceidae, genus Atelerix, and species albiventris. In the genus Atelerix, there are four other species. The members of this genus include the four-toed hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), the Somali Hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri), the Southern African Hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis), and the North African hedgehog (Atelerix algirus) (Santana 2010).The two distinctive features of the class Mammalia are the presence of hair and mammary glands. The function of hair is to serve as an insulator while the mammary glands enable females to produce nutritious, calorie-rich milk and nurse their young. Members of the order Insectivora are insect-eating mammals that have a long snout and either covered in fur or spines. Insectivores are seen as primitive mammals because they lack certain advanced characteristics seen in complex mammals, such as the primates. Instead of a ridged brain they have a smooth brain and instead of two separate openings for the genitals and anus, they have a cloaca, which serves as the opening for both the urinary and reproductive tracts. Furthermore, three commonly known mammals in this order Insectivora are the hedgehog, mole, and the. The genus Atelerix contains the African hedgehogs, which are distinguishable spines covering their bodies, a white fur belly, and typically are between six to eight inches in length (Vaughan 1972)
Davis, Lloyd S. and John T Darby. Penguin Biology. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1990.
Amphibians are animals that are adapted to live on the land and in water habitats (Kolesova, et al, 2007). Young amphibians spend their early life in water breathing through their gills; as they grow they tend to lose their gills and develop lungs which allow them to be adapted to life on land as they will be breathing air (Kolesova, et al, 2007). There are a number of amphibians such as salamanders that do not have an aquatic stage in their life, they are completely terrestrial (Kolesova, et al, 2007). Some amphibians do not completely lose their juvenile features and that phenomenon is known as neoteny where juvenile features are also found in adults (Kolesova, et al, 2007).... ...