Salamanders are amphibians that look like a cross between a frog and a lizard. Their bodies are long and slender; their skin is moist and usually smooth, and they have long tails. Salamanders are very diverse; some have four legs; some have two. Also, some have lungs, some have gills, and some have neither — they breathe through their skin.Salamanders also are known as amphibians. In other words, they can live both in water and on land. However, there is one kind of salamander is called “Axolotl”. According to Dawkins (2005), “The axolotl is not at all like an adult salamander. It is like a larval salamander. It never turns into a proper salamander and never leaves the water.”
These creatures can’t be an amphibian-like another salamander, they must live in water. Having said that, they have very different talent. When an axolotl’s cell or organ is damaged, for example, their limb was cut, they heal themselves. This is axolotls’ miraculous regeneration talent. Dr. Gardiner suggests Humans lost their important regeneration ability when we were an embryo, we have limited regeneration ability for healing tissue injuries. On the other hand, axolotls can reactive their embryonic regeneration talent.
Although axolotls regenerate their organs, such as limbs, arms, tail, and heart. If we look McCusker and Gardiner’s article (2011) we can see this: “Adult salamanders are unique in that ability to regenerate an organ persists beyond the embryonic/larval period.” When an adult axolotl’s limb was cut, it takes 2 months to has the new limb.
The new limb always same as the old one. Moreover, there are a few steps of adult salamander’s limb regeneration. Successful limb regeneration in a salamander is a two-step process, consisting of an early phase that begins with wound healing and ends with the formation of a regeneration blastema. This is followed by the second, re-development phase that is a recapitulation of the events that occurred during limb development in the embryo. Ferris suggests that the first stage of regeneration is fast wound healing. Wound healing was examined by video microscopy. An adult axolotl limb regeneration ability is unlimited. Doesn’t matter how many times it does.
References
- Live Science: The Most Interesting Articles, Mysteries & Discoveries. (October 29, 2015), Retrieved May 10, 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/52627-salamanders.html
- Dawkins, R. (2005), The Ancestor’s Tale, New York: Mariner Books.
- University of California, Irvine – Limb Regeneration|Dr. David M. Gardiner and Dr. Susan V. Bryant. Retrieved April 28, 2017, from http://regeneration.bio.uci.edu/regeneration-basics/
- McCusker, Gardiner (2011). The Axolotl Model for Regeneration and Aging Research: A Mini-Review. Gerontology, 57, 567-568.
- University of California, Irvine – Limb Regeneration|Dr. David M. Gardiner and Dr. Susan V. Bryant. Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://regeneration.bio.uci.edu/two-phases-of-regeneration/
- University of California, Irvine – Limb Regeneration|Dr. David M. Gardiner and Dr. Susan V. Bryant. Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://regeneration.bio.uci.edu/wound-healing-model/
Thanks for reading.
Deniz YELLİ
Genetics and Bioengineering Student
EcoGenesis 