I Can’t Sleep - Axolotls | Gentle Bedtime Reading for Sleep

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Relax with this calm bedtime reading about axolotls, created to ease insomnia and bring gentle rest. In this soothing episode, Benjamin explores the world of these remarkable amphibians, known for their neotenic traits and unique ability to regenerate body parts. His steady, comforting narration turns fascinating biological details into peaceful storytelling, helping you release stress and quiet your thoughts. There is no whispering or hypnosis, only calm, fact-filled narration designed to guide you toward relaxation. Press play, close your eyes, and let the extraordinary story of axolotls carry you into restful sleep. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Axolotls, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Axolotl. Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch.

I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause. With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, and become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is a collection of three Wikipedia articles around the same topic.

The first one is about axwaddles, the second is Lake Choichi Milko, and the third is Lake Texcoco. The axolotel is a pedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. It is unusual among amphibians in that it reaches adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of taking to the land, adults remain aquatic in gild. The species was originally found in several lakes underlying what is now Mexico City, such as Lake Chocomilco and Lake Chalco. These lakes were drained by Spanish settlers

after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, leading to the destruction of much of the Axylottles' natural habitat. Axelotles are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate limbs, gills, and parts of their eyes and brains. Notably, their ability to regenerate declines with age, but it does not disappear. Axelotles keep modestly growing throughout their life,

and some consider this trait to be a direct contributor to their regenerative abilities. Further research has been conducted to examine their heart as a model of human single ventricle and excessive trabeculation. Exelotals were also sold as food in Mexican markets and were a staple in the Aztec diet. Exilatles may be confused with the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamander, which are widespread in much of North America and occasionally become pedomorphic or with mud puppies, fully aquatic salamanders, from a different family that are not closely related to axolotol,

but bear a superficial resemblance. A mature adult axolotl at age 18 to 27 months ranges in length from 15 to 45 centimeters, although a size close to 23 centimeters is most common and greater than 30 centimeters is rare. Axelotles possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent.

External gills are usually lost when salamander species mature into adulthood, although the axelotl maintains this feature. This is due to their neotony evolution, where axelotals are much more aquatic than other salamander species. Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped, and possess long, thin digits. Three pairs of external gill stalks originate behind their heads

and are used to move oxygenated water. The external gill rami are lined with filaments to increase surface area for gas exchange. Four gill slits lined with gill rakers are hidden underneath the external gills, which prevent food from entering and allow particles to filter three. Excellotals have barely visible vestigial teeth, which develop during metamorphosis. The primary method of feeding is by suction, during which their rakers interlock to close the gill slits.

External gills are used for respiration, although bucule pumping, gulping, gulping air from the surface, may also be used to provide oxygen to their lungs. Bucal pumping can occur in a two-stroke manner that pumps air from the mouth to the lungs and with four-stroke that reverses this pathway with compression forces. Auxillotos have four pigmentation genes. When mutated, they create different color variants. The normal wild-type animal is brown or tan with gold speckles and an olive undertone. The most common mutant colors are listed.

listed below. 1. Lucistic. Pale pink with black eyes. Two, Xanthic. Gray was black eyes. 3. Albino. Pale pink or white with red eyes, which is more common in axolotles than other species. 4. Melanoid. All black or dark blue with no gold speckling or olive tone. In addition, there is wide individual variability in the size, frequency, and intensity of the gold speckling, and at least one variant develops a black and wide piebald appearance upon reaching maturity. Because pet breeders frequently cross the variant colors, double homozygous mutants are common in the pet trade, especially white pink animals with pink eyes that are double homozygous mutants

for both the albino and lecistic trait. Axelotlottles also have some limited ability to alter their color to provide better camouflage by changing the relative size and thickness of their melanophores. The axolotl is native only to the fresh water of Lake Chocchio and Lake Chalco in the Valley of Mexico. Lake Chalco no longer exists. Have you been drained as a flood control measure? and Lake Choichiomilco remains a remnant of its former self, existing mainly as canals.

The water temperature in Chochomilco rarely rises above 20 degrees Celsius, although it may fall to 6 to 7 degrees Celsius in the winter and perhaps lower. Surveys in 1998, 2003, and 2008 found 6,1,000, and 100 axolotles per square, kilometer and its Lake Choichi-Milco habitat respectively. A four-month-long search in 2013, however, turned up no surviving individuals in the wild. Just a month later, two wild ones were spotted in a network of canals, leading from Chochimilco. The wild population has been put under heavy pressure by the growth of Mexico City.

The Auxolodal is currently on the International Union for Concercials, of Nature's annual red list of threatened species. Axylottles are members of the tiger salamander, along with all other Mexican species of Ambistoma. Their habitat is like that of most neotenic species, a high-altitude body of water surrounded by a risky terrestrial environment. These conditions are sought to favor neotony. However, a terrestrial population of Mexican tiger salamanders

occupies and breeds in the axolotles habitat. The axolotle is carnivorous, consuming small prey such as mollusks, worms, insects, other arthropods, and small fish in the wild. Axelotles locate food by smell and will snap at any potential meal, sucking the food into their stomachs with vacuum force. Today, the axolotol is still used in research as a model organism, and large numbers are bred in captivity. They are especially easy to breed compared to other salamanders in their family, which are rarely captive bread due to their demands of terrestrial life. One attractive feature for research is a large and easily manipulated embryo, which allows viewing of the full development of a vertebrate. Axolotles are used in heart defect studies due to the presence of a mutant gene that causes heart failure in embryos. Since the embryos survive almost to hatching with no heart function, the defect is very observable.

The axolotl is also considered an ideal animal model for the study of neural tube closure, due to the similarities between human and axolotal neural plate and tube formation. The axelotl's neural tube, unlike the frogs, is not hidden under a layer of superficial epithelium. There are also mutations affecting other organ systems, some of which are not well characterized and others that are. The genetics of the color variants of the axelotol have also been widely seen. studied. The feature of the axelottle that attracts most attention is its healing ability. The axelotl does not heal by scarring and is capable of the regeneration of entire lost appendages in a period of months. And in certain cases, more vital structures such as tail, limb, central

nervous system, and tissues of the eye and heart. They can even restore less vital parts of their brains. They can also readily accept transplants from other individuals, including eyes and parts of the brain, restoring these alien organs to full functionality. In some cases, axolotles have been known to repair a damaged limb, as well as regenerating an additional one, ending up with an extra appendage that makes them attractive to pet owners as a novelty. And metamorphose individuals, however, the ability to regenerate is greatly diminished. The axolotl is therefore used as a model for the development of limbs in vertebrates. There are three basic requirements for regeneration of the limb,

the wound epithelium, nerve signaling, and the presence of cells from the different limb axes. A wound epidermis is quickly formed by the cells to cover up the side of the wound. In the following days the cell of the wound epidermis divide and grow quickly forming a blastema, which means the wound is ready to heal and undergo patterning to form the new limb. It is believed that during limb generation, axolotles have a different system to regulate their internal macrophage level and suppress inflammation,

as scarring prevents proper healing and regeneration. However, this belief has been questioned by other studies. The axolotl's regenerative properties leave the species as the perfect model to study the process of stem cells and its own neotony feature. Current research can record specific examples of these regenerative properties through tracking cell fades and behaviors. Tracing Skin Triploid cell graphs, pigmentation imaging, electroproration, tissue clearing, and lineage tracing from dye labeling. The newer technologies of germline modification and transgenesis are better suited

for live imaging, the regenerative process that occur for axolotls. The 32 billion base pair long sequence of the axolotl's genome was published in 2018 and was the largest animal genome completed at the time. It revealed species-specific genetic pathways that may be responsible for limb regeneration. Although the axolotal genome is about 10 times as large as a human genome, it encodes a similar number of proteins, namely 23,251. The human genome encodes about 20,000 proteins. The size difference is mostly explained by a large fraction of repetitive sequences, but such repeated elements also contribute to increased median intran sizes, which are 13, 16, and 25 times that observed in human, mouse, and Tibetan frog, respectively.

Most amphibians begin their lives as aquatic and aquatic animals. animals, which are unable to live on dry land, often being dubbed as tadpoles. To reach adulthood, they go through a process called metamorphosis, in which they lose their gills and start living on land. However, the axolotl is unusual in that it has a lack of thyroid-stimulating hormone, which is needed for the thyroid to produce thyroxine in order for the axolotel to go through metamorphosis. Therefore, it keeps its kills and lives in water all its life, even after it becomes an adult and is able to reproduce. Neotony is the term for reaching sexual maturity without undergoing

metamorphosis. The genes responsible for neodyncy in laboratory animals may have been identified. However, they are not linked in wild populations, suggesting artificial selection is the cause of complete neodyne and laboratory and pet axolotls. The genes responsible have been narrowed down to a small chromosomal region called Met 1, which contains several candidate genes. The axolotles body has the capacity to go through metamorphosis if given the necessary hormone, but axolotles do not produce it and must be exposed to it from an external source, after which an axolotel undergoes and artificially induced metamorphosis, and begins living on land. In laboratory conditions, metamorphosis is reliably induced

by administering either the thyroid hormone, thyroxene, or thyroid-stimulating hormone. The former is more commonly used. In animals with functioning thyroid glands, iodine in the form of iodide is selectively gathered into the colloid of the thyroid. Inside the colloid, iodide is reduced to eliminate iodine, which reacts with the tyrosil residues of thyroglobulin. Two iodinated tyrosil residues are conjugated together. When they are cleaved from the thialglobulin chain, thyroid hormone is obtained. In the absence of induced metamorphosis, larval axelotals start absorbing iodide into their

thyroid glands at 30 days post-fertilization. Larval axolotals do produce thyroid hormone from iodide, but the amount appears highly variable. Adult axelotals do not produce thyroid hormone unless metamorphism is triggered. Diiodotyrazine, an analog of the iodinated theroglobulin precursor in thyroxine biosynthesis, causes metamorphosis in axolotals that have their thiroids removed. Lugl's solution, which contains both iodide and I2, triggers metamorphosis when injected. This is because diodotyrazine and thyroxine is produced

when iodine reacts with proteins other than theroglobulin. If given in a bath instead of injected, iodine has, has no effect on axolotals. Iodide, which does not react with proteins, does not trigger metamorphosis. It does speed up the rate of metamorphosis once it has been triggered by thyroid hormone extract. An axolotl undergoing metamorphosis experiences a number of physiological changes that help them adapt to life on land. These include increased muscle tone and limbs, the absorption of the of gills and fins into the body, the development of eyelids, and a reduction in the skin's

permeability to water, allowing the axolotl to stay more easily hydrated when on land. The lungs of an axolottle, though present alongside gills after reaching non-metamorphosed adulthood, developed further during metamorphosis. An axelotel that has gone through metamorphosis resembles an adult plateau tiger salamander, though the axolotl differs in its longer toes. Six adult axolotls were shipped from Mexico City to Paris in 1863. Unaware of their neodytny, Auguste de Merro was surprised when, instead of the axelotel, he found in the Viverium a new species, similar to the salamander. This discovery was a starting point of research about neodony.

It is not certain that ambostoma Velocci specimens were not included in the original shipment. Phelam Laufberger and Prague used thyroid hormone injections to induce an axolotl to grow into a terrestrial adult salamander. The experiment was repeated by Englishman Julian Huxley, who was unaware the experiment had already been done using ground thiroids. Since then, experiments have been done often with injections of iodine or various thyroid hormones used to induce metamorphosis. Many other species within the axelotles genus are also either entirely neotenic or have neotnic populations.

Sirens and Necturus or other neotnick salamanders, although unlike axelotals they cannot be induced to metamorphose by an injection of iodine or thyroxine hormone. Neotony has been observed in all salamander families in which it seems to be a survival mechanism in aquatic environments only of mountain and hill with little food, and in particular with little iodine. In this way, salamanders can reproduce and survive in the form of a smaller larval stage,

which is aquatic and requires a lower quality and quantity of food, compared to the big adult, which is terrestrial. If the salamander larvae ingest a sufficient amount of iodine, they quickly begin metamorphosis and transform into bigger terrestrial adults, with higher dietary requirements. In fact, in some high mountain lakes, there live dwarf forms of salminoids that are caused by deficiencies in food and a particular iodine, which causes cretanism and dwarfism due to hypothyroidism as it does in humans.

The species is named after the Aztec deity Sholitol, the god of fire and lightning, who transformed himself into an axelotl to avoid being sacrificed by fellow gods. They continued to play an outsized cultural role in Mexico. Axolidol also means water monster in the Nowhada language. They appear in the works of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. In 2021, Mexico released a new design for its 50-Peso banknote, featuring an axwaddle along with maize and chinampas on its back. It was recognized as banknote of the year by the International Banknote Society.

HD224693, a star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus, was named Axelotl in 2019. The Pokemon Mudkip and its evolutions added in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire 2002, take some visual inspiration from Axelotles. Additionally, the Pokemon Whooper added in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, 1999, is directly based on an axolautil. The looks of the dragons toothless and the night fury and the How to Train Your Dragon movies are based on axolotles. They were also added to the video game Minecraft in 2020.

It is following Mojong Studios' trend of adding endangered species to the game to raise awareness. They were also added to its spin-off Minecraft Dungeons in 2022 and are available in Lego Minecraft. An anthropomorphic axolodal named Axo was also added as a purchasable outfit in Fortnite Battle Royale on August 9th, 2020. Lake Choichi Milko is an ancient endohyroheric lake

located in the present-day borough of Choichi Milko in southern Mexico City. It is the last remaining habitat of the Axoatl. The lake is within the valley of Mexico hydrological basin in central Mexico. Lake Chochimilko is part of a series of historical lakes, which included one, Lake Texcoco, Brackish, two, Lake Zumpango, three, Lake Chautaukan, four, Lake Chalco, freshwater. Lake Chochimilco was originally a part of an even larger lake, Lake Texcoco, during the last glacial period.

Between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, the climate in Central Mexico warmed and the snow melt that once fed like Texcoco virtually disappeared. This caused the lake to drop hundreds of feet over the next several thousand years. By 2,000 years ago, Chochimilko became a bay in the southern portion of Texcoco.

Then around the 13th or 14th century, the Aztecs built large causeways, effectively creating a new lake. These lakes were the home of many Mesoamerican cultures, including the T.O.T. Huacanos, the Toltecs, and the Aztecs. Due to its shallow waters and the freshwater springs that lined the south shore of the lake, Lake Shochimilko was the center of Chinampa agriculture in the centuries of the pre-Columbian era. This made the region a prime target for the expansionist Aztecs, who obtained control over the lake in a series of campaigns, from circa 1432 until 1440. After the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521,

they destroyed the dams and sluice gates. This, along with a sharp decline in the native population, led to the near abandonment of the Chinampa Gardens. The five lakes within the valley of Mexico have now largely disappeared, drained to reduce flooding. Only the Shochimilco canals remain from the original Lake Shochimilko. Chinamperos work their Chinampa gardens between the canals. Choichi Mielko Lake remnants are part of large urban parks in Mexico City, with water-based and land recreation. Colorful Trajineras rafts take groups of people on the remaining canals for pleasure. Shochimilko Ecological Park and Plant Market was established as a nature reserve in park,

and as the largest park in Mexico City after Chupultebec. There is also the 13 hectare Chochimilco Quimanco plant market, the largest in Latin America. The market is on Chinampa land. The area was declared a biological reserve by the Mexican government in 1984. It became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Lake Chochimilco is the last remaining native habitat for the axolodal, a species of mole salamant. endemic to Mexico. Until Lake Chalko was drained, the species had also been present there. Given Lake Chochimilko's present extensively compromised and reduced state and the accelerating

impact of Mexico City's urban growth, as of 2008, axolodal in the wild are listed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN. On Saturday, May 20, 23, Google honored Lake Shochimilko with a Google Doodle. The Doodle invited players to look for axolotles in the lake and take pictures by clicking on them. The goal of the doodle was to photograph five types of axolotles within the duration of the game. Lake Texcoco was a natural lake within the Anwok or Valley of Mexico.

Lake Texcoco is best known for an island situated on the western side of the lake, where the Mexico built the city of Mexico to Natchitlan, which would later become the capital of the Aztec Empire. After the Spanish conquest, efforts to control flooding led to most of the lake being drained. The entire lake basin is now almost completely occupied by Mexico City, the capital of the present-day nation of Mexico. Drainage of the lake has led to serious ecological and human consequences,

The local climate and water availability have changed considerably, contributing to water-scarcity in the area. Subsequent groundwater extraction leads to land subsidence under much of the city. Native species endemic to the lake region such as the Axtalotl have become severely endangered or extinct due to ecosystem change. After the cancellation of Mexico City Texcoco Airport, the government initiated a major restoration project of a significant part of the lake and the form of the Lake Texcoco Ecological Park, 14,000 hectares of public space and ecological restoration. The valley of Mexico is a basin with an average elevation of 2,236 meters above mean sea level, located in the southern highlands of Mexico's central Altiplano. Lake Texcoco formally extended over a large portion of the southern half of the basin, where it was the largest of an interconnected chain of five major and several smaller lakes.

Much of the lake was fed from groundwater aquifers. Fresh water poured in from Lake Cholko and Choichi Milko's freshwater springs, and the thermal springs of Zumpango and Chaltokan, as well as some in Texcoco itself, provided saline water. During periods of high water levels, typically after the May to October rainy seasons, the lakes were often joined as one body of water, at an average elevation of 2,242 meters above mean sea level.

In the drier winter months, the lake system tended to separate into individual bodies of water, a flow that was mitigated by the construction of dikes and causeways in the late post-classic period, 1,200 to 1521 C.E of Mesoamerican chronology. Lake Texcoco was the lowest line of all the lakes and occupied the minimum elevation in the valley so that water ultimately drained towards it. The valley of Mexico is a closed or endorheic basin. Because there is no outflow, evapotranspiration is estimated to be 72 to 79% of precipitation.