Axolotl Coloring Pages
Axolotls look like they're smiling all the time, and I'd smile too if I could grow back a lost leg! They're a kind of salamander that never really grows up. Most salamanders lose their gills and move onto land as adults, but an axolotl keeps its frilly gills and stays in the water its whole life.
Pet axolotls are often pale pink with bright pink or red gills. They also come in gold, grey and nearly black. Wild ones are usually a speckled brownish green so they can hide on the muddy lake bottom.
Of course an imaginary purple axolotl with rainbow gills sounds fun too!
Wild axolotls live in just one place in the world, the lakes and canals around Mexico City. They're sometimes called Mexican walking fish, even though they aren't fish at all. They have four stubby little legs and really do walk along the bottom. Sadly there aren't many left in the wild, so most axolotls you'll see live in aquariums.
Their superpower is regrowing body parts. An axolotl can grow back a lost leg or tail and even repair parts of its heart and spinal cord. Scientists study them to learn how they do it.
When you color the gills, make them a shade darker than the body since that's where the blood shows through. Pencil crayons work well for the little feathery bits. Add some green water plants and a few pebbles behind your axolotl and it'll feel right at home.