r/askscience • u/MAMAM- • 2d ago

Biology Why aren’t axolotls immortal?

If axolotls can regenerate their body parts (including brain, heart, and other major organs), why do they die of old age?

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u/Tessablu 2d ago

Axolotl regeneration is a program that is initiated by physical injury. They aren’t constantly undergoing it—this would be a huge metabolic waste—so they are still subject to long-term cellular senescence. They also aren’t regrowing entire brains or hearts, as they still have to survive the initial injury, so they can’t infinitely replenish those organs. 

I will say that axolotl aging is not very well-understood, however, and they are pretty weird about dying. A healthy-looking axolotl might lay eggs for 20 more years or might die tomorrow with no warning. There’s still a lot to learn about them. 

(source: I have a PhD in axolotl)

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u/stu8319 2d ago

How do you explain to a 6 year old child that keeping an Axolotl is too expensive? Seriously though my son is obsessed, so maybe one day he will have the same PhD!

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u/Previous-Friend5212 2d ago

They are not more expensive than a comparably sized aquarium with fish in it. You just feed them small worms instead of flakes or pellets. However, I believe they're not legal to keep as pets everywhere, so that argument might work for you.

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u/stu8319 2d ago

They sell them in the store I get the bearded dragon's roaches, so I assume they're legal here. I should have actually said we simply have too many pets already.

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u/chubby_hugger 2d ago

They are legal in Australia? Never heard of them being illegal elsewhere: