Using environmental DNA analysis and traditional fishing techniques, researchers are seeking answers about the current population of axolotls in their natural habitat. The numbers are alarming.

That’s because, in kid world, the axolotl is a celebrity. It’s tough to pinpoint the animals’ pop culture nexus. They’ve been popular on social media since at least the mid-2010s, and ...

A worker shows an axolotl in a hatchery to preserve the species on August 19, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. CREDIT: Eyepix/NurPhoto via Getty Images. NurPhoto ...

For that reason, captive-bred axolotls—which are a light pink in color—are common research subjects for biologists, who have long been fascinated by their ability to defy aging. (Learn how you ...

But wild axolotls, endemic to a single lake in Mexico, are critically endangered due to degradation of their native wetlands, with only 50 to 1,000 individuals left in the wild.