Animal Super Powers: Axolotls 🦎✨

Sleep Tight Science - A Bedtime Science Show For Kids

Sleep Tight Media

Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.4 • 738 Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode we learn about the axolotl, a remarkable salamander with not one but two superpowers. First, they can regenerate entire body parts, regrowing legs, tails, and even portions of their heart and brain with almost no scarring. Second, they've mastered the art of staying young forever, keeping their feathery gills and living their whole lives underwater instead of transforming into land-dwelling adults like other salamanders. Grown-ups: we value your feedback. Our email and message link are in the episode notes—please send us your child’s questions and thoughts. Sleep Tight!, Sheryl & Clark ❤️👂📖 --- ✨ Want more stories and fewer interruptions? Join Sleep Tight Premium for ad-free listening, bonus bedtime stories every week, and personalized shout-outs for your little ones! Start your free trial now on Apple Podcasts or at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sleeptightpremium.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Support Us 👉 Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for AD FREE listening and extra bedtime stories! 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sleep Tight Premium⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is now available in Apple Podcasts! 🎉 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts, or share our podcast with your friends. 📢 Have an interesting science topic you would like to investigate? Send us an email at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@sleeptightscience.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , and we may feature it in an upcoming show. --- About Sleep Tight Science We’ve got bedtime down to a (Sleep Tight) Science! Sleep Tight Science is an award winning bedtime podcast that makes science accessible and enjoyable for the whole family. Snuggle in and drift off to sleep while learning about science topics submitted by listeners! Designed for curious young minds (but simple enough for grown-ups to understand), Sleep Tight Science uses big words to answer big questions that kids wonder about, like why do we feel icky sometimes and how do our legs help us move? Learn something new about the natural world while drifting off to dreamland. Have an interesting science question or a topic you’re curious about? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@sleeptightscience.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and it might just be the focus of an upcoming episode! Dedicated to enhancing the health and happiness of children, Sleep Tight Media helps families replace bedtime struggles with bedtime snuggles. -- Advertising provided by Starglow Media. Learn more about Starglow Media ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to our sea kitesline.
0:03.3	And David is Sally.
0:18.4	Did you know axolotls can regrow their legs, tail, and even parts of their heart and brain?
0:28.4	What?
0:29.4	They're like the superheroes of the salamander world.
0:44.4	Hello, friends, and welcome back to Sleep Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science.
0:49.5	What if I told you there's an animal that never really grows up, keeps its feathery baby gills forever,
0:58.1	and can regrow lost body parts like a living repair kit? It sounds like something from a fantasy
1:06.2	story, but it's real, and it's called an axoladdle.
1:13.6	Many of you have written to us asking us to write about these amazing regenerators,
1:20.2	and though we have covered them in the past as part of a listener questions episode,
1:26.2	we thought we should devote a whole episode to them.
1:31.8	Axelotles are a type of salamander that lives in the water. But unlike most salamanders, which start as
1:41.1	swimming tadpole-like babies and eventually grow lungs to live on land,
1:47.5	axolot will skip that step entirely.
1:51.2	They keep their frilly gills,
1:54.1	stay underwater their whole lives,
1:57.3	and basically remain forever young.
2:02.5	Scientists call this neotony,
2:05.3	staying in a juvenile form, even as an adult.
2:09.8	But that's just the beginning.
2:13.5	Axylottles have two remarkable superpowers
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sleep Tight Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sleep Tight Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.