Inside the desperate hunt for an endangered creature in Mexico City's canals
This dramatic decline has prompted scientists from Mexico's National Autonomous University to employ an innovative technique: filtering Xochimilco's murky waters for traces of the endangered creature's DNA.
"We all shed DNA along our path across the world and that can be captured by filtering air or water," explained biologist Luis Zambrano, from the university's ecological restoration lab.
As traditional netting surveys increasingly yield empty results, scientists are relying on this environmental DNA (eDNA) method to monitor the dwindling numbers of a species found exclusively in Xochimilco.
Water samples are meticulously filtered for these genetic particles, which are then cross-referenced with profiles from a genetic library compiled by British scientists.
Esther Quintero of Conservation International in Mexico, who has collaborated with Zambrano since 2023, highlighted the vital role of this international effort in tracking the elusive axolotl.
Scientists collected water from 53 locations in Xochimilco: 10 inside refuges where water is filtered and the water is cleaner and 43 outside those areas. They found axolotl DNA inside the protected areas and in one site outside them.
Referring to the one unprotected area, Zambrano said 'it's very little,' but a sign that there is the possibility of resilience, even with continuing environmental degradation and pollution of the canals.
So far, the researchers have only searched a third of Xochimilco with the environmental DNA technique and the manual work with nets, but they plan to continue the work and hopefully present an updated census early next year.
The trend, however, is not good. From an estimated 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer in 1998, there were only 36 per square kilometer in the last census, in 2014.
Zambrano highlights that his team's work has shown that conservation works and that the effort to protect the species is also improving water quality, increasing the number of pollinisers in the area and means that Mexico City makes better use of Xochimilco's water, among other benefits.
But policymakers can do more, he said, such as prohibiting the opening of dance clubs, spas and soccer fields on Xochimilco's traditional man-made islands, known as chinampas. Instead, the government should incentivise the islands' traditional agricultural production, ensuring that farmers can actually make a living at it.
If its habitat is fixed, the axolotl can take care of the rest.
'The axolotl reproduces a lot because it lays a lot of eggs … it can easily recover and we know how,' Zambrano said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
White Wood butterflies found in Powys after decades-long absence
One of the rarest butterflies in the UK has returned Wales, decades after last being seen in the endangered Wood White, known for its delicate cream colour and striped antennae, was recorded at four sites in Powys by the Butterfly Conservation, including a female laying species used to have a permanent colony in south-east Wales but died out several decades ago due to a destruction of habitat, with only some "sporadic sightings" Conservation said butterflies had suffered in recent years "because of human actions" but now there was new hope for conservationists, with a "real success story" in the new species in Wales. Since 1979, the species' abundance has decreased by 82% at its few remaining sites. Butterfly Conservation said the new arrivals "almost certainly" come from sites just over the border in Shropshire, where targeted conservation work has been ongoing to maintain Wood White charity said its conservation team saw at least four individuals, including a female laying eggs, at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) sites at now plan to do further surveys next spring and are in contact with NRW to discuss managing roadside verges along forestry plantation roads. The news comes after a host of "surprising butterfly and moth activity", the charity said, much of it linked to this year's record-breaking Conservation have recorded 18 species of butterfly emerging at least two weeks earlier than average, with a further 24 species at least a week Dr Dan Hoare, Butterfly Conservation director of nature recovery, said while the charity loved to see butterflies and moths doing well in the UK, there were "going to be winners and losers from the very rapid climate change we're experiencing".Dr Hoare added: "One way we can increase the number of climate winners is by managing habitats positively so that threatened species can benefit as well as widespread mobile species."That means creating and maintaining good quality, connected habitat at a landscape scale, which Butterfly Conservation has been doing for years and will continue to do."
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Mystery surrounds ancient remains discovered in English villages
DNA analysis of skeletons from two 7th-century cemeteries in Kent and Dorset, England, revealed individuals with West African ancestry. This discovery challenges the traditional understanding of early medieval migration to England, which primarily focused on movements from continental northern Europe. Two individuals, one at each site, showed genetic affinity to present-day sub-Saharan West African groups like Yoruba and Mende, with further analysis suggesting one paternal grandparent was of West African descent. The presence of grave goods and burial alongside community members indicates these individuals were integrated and valued within their local societies. The findings suggest a more diverse and cosmopolitan population in early medieval England than previously thought, prompting further questions about long-distance movement and demographic interaction.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Scientists standing by to rescue rare manatee sighted in cold New England waters
A manatee was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade and scientists want to monitor its condition to see if a rescue is necessary before it succumbs to the cold water or lack of food, they said Friday. The threatened species, which makes its habitat in warmer southern Gulf waters in places like Florida, was first seen July 26 off the southwestern coast of Cape Cod in the area of Nantucket Sound. Mashpee resident Jennifer Sullivan took a video of it swimming alongside paddle boarders in an inlet behind a marina surrounded by sea grass. She said on Monday that she found the manatee, which was as long and wide as her paddleboard, 'just lazing around there in the grass going as slowly as possible.' 'It was completely unfazed by us," said Sullivan, who went on to say she felt 'just in awe of how graceful the creature was and to be so close in the wild to it.' A few days later, the animal was seen stranded on the tidal flats in Mattapoisett. Bystanders who found the manatee beached on the flats around sunrise pushed it back into the water, said Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Protected Species Program Manager Erin Burke. It hasn't been spotted since, Burke said, but a team with the International Fund for Animal Welfare is standing by to rescue the animal if it becomes necessary. The species prefers swimming in warmer waters, usually traveling only as far north as the Carolinas. If the manatee stays in water that is too cold for too long, it could suffer severe illness or death, said New England Aquarium Research Scientist Dr. Nadine Lysiak. Additionally, manatees are herbivores that sustain themselves on extensive seagrass beds and mangroves not typically found in New England. 'Even if it doesn't experience cold stunning, it may have some health declines associated with not having enough food, not having enough water,' she said. 'So it's important to intervene as soon as it's sighted again to prevent health declines.' Lysiak said it's unclear how and why the manatee found its way so far north. It may have followed the warm water Gulf Stream current system from Florida up past the Carolinas and eventually found its way to New England, she said. 'We have kind of an average understanding of what a wild population does in terms of their range, or their habitat range, and some individuals will go beyond that and maybe wander or seek out other habitats or other food sources," she said. "It's hard to know exactly why this manatee came to Cape Cod.' Manatee sightings are uncommon in New England, but not unheard of. In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay — the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued, with one dying on the trip to Florida for rehabilitation. The other survived the trip south, living until 2018. In 2016, a manatee was spotted off the coast of Falmouth. In 2023, one of the animals was seen in Rhode Island. Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548. Sullivan said she feels 'blessed that I could be in the right place and the right time to see the creature," and she's hoping it's healthy and safe. 'I pray he just turned right around and went back south," she said.
