Lake Lerma Salamander

The Lake Lerma salamander is an extremely rare, occasionally neotenic mole salamander endemic to the Lerma River and Lake Lerma in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico's highlands, at 2,800 to 3,000 meters elevation, where the holotype was collected east of Toluca in 1940. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List and in CITES Appendix II, and it is now locally extinct in its original area after marsh drainage destroyed nearly the entire Lake Lerma wetland complex, dam construction fragmented the Lerma River, and pollution and domestic water use took a further toll. Researchers have shown that ex-situ reproduction using hormonal stimulation is achievable in the laboratory, offering a possible route to conservation.