Most salamanders are born in water with feathery gills, then later turn into a land animal that loses the gills and grows lungs. Axolotls don't do that. They keep their gills, keep their tail fin, and stay in the water their entire life. They look like little aquatic dragons with smiling mouths.
Their superpower is healing. Slice off a leg, and an axolotl can regrow a full new leg - bones, muscles, nerves, all of it - in a few months. They can regrow their tail, the front of their eyes, and even parts of their brain and heart. Scientists are studying them to learn how this works.
Wild axolotls come in dark, speckled colours - greys, greens and browns - which is what they look like in their home lakes. The bright pink ones with feathery white gills that you might see online are usually pet axolotls bred to look pretty. Both kinds are the same species.
Sadly, wild axolotls are very rare. The lakes where they live are mostly gone, and pollution makes life hard for them. Mexico is working to clean up and rebuild the canals of Xochimilco - the last wild axolotl home - so they can come back. The axolotl appears on Mexican coins and stamps.