salamander

But like the axolotl, the salamander she studied, this program is critically endangered.

“He is a mix between a bird of prey, like a peregrine falcon, with extremely streamlined shapes — of course a feline but also a Mexican salamander called an axolotl,” Otto says.

Aztec legend has it that the creature is a god in salamander form - the Aztec god of fire and lightning, Xolotl, disguised as a salamander.

While some regenerating animals like salamanders and fish focus on restoring lost parts in proportion to what remains, this sea anemone takes a different approach.

Here, slender salamanders slink through the leaf litter under robust stands of Santa Cruz Island buckwheat and California fuchsia.