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Scientists from a university are filtering Mexico City’s waters for traces of the DNA of an endangered salamander, the axolotl. These unique salamanders, once abundant in the city’s borough of Xochimilco, are now nearly impossible to find in the wild. Researchers collect water samples and filter them for environmental DNA, comparing the results to a genetic library. They found axolotl DNA in 10 protected areas and one unprotected site. The population has drastically declined from 6,000 per kilometer in 1998, to just 36 per kilometer in 2014. Conservation efforts have improved water quality and biodiversity, but more policy support is needed to protect their habitat.
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