Mole salamander
The mole salamanders (genus Ambystoma) are a group of advanced salamanders endemic to North America. The group has become famous due to the presence of the axolotl (A. mexicanum), widely used in research due to its paedomorphosis, and the tiger salamander (A. tigrinum, A. mavortium) which is the official amphibian of many US states, and often sold as a pet.
Limb regeneration[edit]
Ambystoma mexicanum, a neotenic salamander with exceptional regenerative capabilities is one of the principal models for studying limb regeneration.[5] Limb regeneration involves the propagation of a mass of low differentiated and highly proliferative cells termed the blastema.[5][6] During limb regeneration, blastema cells experience DNA double-strand breaks and thus require homologous recombination, a form of DNA repair that deals with double-strand breaks.[6]
This genus contains 32 species, listed below, the newest being A. bishopi. Some Ambystoma species are Terrestrial, others are neotenic, and some species have established populations of both neotenic and terrestrial forms.
In addition, two groups of unisexual hybrid populations are sometimes named under their own species:
Data related to Ambystomatidae at Wikispecies
Media related to Ambystoma at Wikimedia Commons