THE SALAMANDERS 
367 
THE TWO LIVES OF THE AXOLOTL. 
The lower figure shows the wholly aquatic larval form, with gills and tail fins, called the Axolotl. The upper 
figure shows the same creature fitted for life on land, and known as the Spotted Salamander. 
imperfect Spotted Salamander back into aquatic 
life. At first there is a struggle against life under 
water, but finally the animal becomes adjusted 
to it. (R. L. Ditmars.) 
By keeping the larval Axolotl in an aquarium, 
with an abundance of water but with no encour- 
agement nor facilities for breathing air, it not 
only remains in that stage indefinitely, but it 
breeds successfully. 
This species is most abundant in the shallow 
lakes around the City of Mexico, but it inhabits 
nearly the whole of Mexico and also a considera- 
ble area in the southwestern United States. Un- 
questionably, the wonderful mobility — as it may 
truly be called — of this creature is for the purpose 
of enabling it to survive in a region wherein 
droughts are common, and where the life of an 
aquatic animal depends upon its ability to 
change from water to land. Of all members of 
the Order Urodela, this is to me the most won- 
derful. 
Salamanders, Generally. — In shallow brooks, 
in still pools of all kinds, from the shaded woods 
of the East to the wind-swept, sun-bathed prai- 
ries and bad-lands of the West, and both on and 
in the damp earth of forests high and low, we 
occasionally find little smooth-skinned, lizard- 
like animals. They are slow in movement, weak 
and incapable of either defence or flight, and are 
at the mercy of almost any species larger than 
themselves. These are Salamanders, and in 
view of the fact that some are wholly aquatic and 
others wholly terrestrial, it is difficult to choose 
from our sixteen species one which may stand 
for the majority. The diversity of habit of these 
animals is greater than their differences in form. 
The various members of the group inhabit all 
sorts of quiet situations, from the rocks and dry 
ground of the Blotched Salamander 1 to the 
mountains of the Blue -Spotted Salamander , 2 
1 Am-bly' sto-ma o-pa'cum. 
2 Pleth’ o-don glu-ti-no' sus . 
