Meeting Abstract
Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are neotenic salamanders that do not typically undergo metamorphosis. They remain aquatic when they reach sexual maturity. Very rarely, some axolotls may spontaneously metamorphose into the terrestrial adult form. Due to the rarity of metamorphosis, very little is known about the biology of terrestrial axolotls. We have three of these metamorphosed axolotls in our laboratory. While observing these axolotls interact with their environment, we noticed that they walked in a seemingly clumsy and awkward fashion. This case study uses motion analysis of slow motion video to investigate the kinematics of terrestrial salamander locomotion. We are comparing terrestrial axolotl locomotion to a close relative in the same genus that does normally metamorphose: the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Due to the fact that axolotls are adapted to an aquatic environment, there may be losses and/or changes in developmental processes relative to other terrestrial ambystomoids that would not become phenotypically apparent until metamorphosis. Future studies will examine the neuromuscular anatomy after their natural death to determine whether there are gross anatomical differences between metamorphosed axolotls and tiger salamanders.
