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Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by reassembled on Saturday November 18, 2017 @04:31PM (#15730817)
Is there a reason they can't release them into a new habitat somewhere, even constructed specifically for the Axolotl?

Also if they are so prolifically inbred in captivity, couldn't they capture another specimen and start a new line either with a captive specimen or another wild specimen?

Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by crispinb on Saturday November 18, 2017 @06:06PM (#15731168)
We're losing so much of our planet's biota, and at such a catastrophic pace (eg 58% decline in vertebrate abundance since 1970), that it's hard to know where to concentrate resources. This is an ongoing debate amongst ecologists. There's a fundamental quandary: the problem is planetary, a specieswise response is known to be inadequate, but it's the only one on offer.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by meri_dian on Saturday November 18, 2017 @08:36PM (#15731760)
The answer is to allow evolution to do its job and produce species capable of dealing with human dominance of the planet, while at the same time doing our best to transition to sustainable energy sources.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by crispinb on Saturday November 18, 2017 @10:00PM (#15732023)
Science fiction is an entertainment, not an answer.

As for answers: answers to what? Topsoil loss (about 50 harvests left and counting)? Freshwater disappearance? Billions of sea-level-rise refugees with the inevitable resulting regional wars?

Unlimited so-called 'economic growth' has always been imaginary (it's not 'growth' in anything; it's entropy transfer as we shift from from complex and sustainable systems evolved over millennia to crude early-stage technological systems). It is not so glorious a work of the imagination it is worth destroying our real physical living home for.

Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by lawrenceyan on Sunday November 19, 2017 @01:58PM (#15735279)
The answer is quite simple really. Move offworld! :)
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by dredmorbius on Sunday November 19, 2017 @07:30PM (#15736847)
Physically, metaphorically, or biologically.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by GlennS on Saturday November 18, 2017 @08:45PM (#15731784)
Evolution (mostly) works too slowly to keep up with human technological change.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by ekianjo on Saturday November 18, 2017 @09:46PM (#15731976)
That's not how evolution works at all. Evolution is not about mutations and genetic changes, it's about who is the fittest for their current environment. It can happen, very, very fast, like when new species are introduced in an environment. This can be observed in Australia with several species that were imported with human interactions. That counts as Evolution as well.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by bipson on Sunday November 19, 2017 @02:52AM (#15732808)
I think you're wrong, the theory of evolution has been suffering under the oversimplification that is 'survival of the fittest', that also led to e.g. Social Darwinism, which is dangerous and completely bogus.

Evolution Darwin already knew (and even more so we nowadays know) is a complex mechanism, that includes favoritism of certain traits of species over others, which steers a species' fitness for the environment, and several factors play various roles, e.g. epi-genetics.

Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by agumonkey on Saturday November 18, 2017 @10:04PM (#15732034)
Aren't you distorting the concept ? if no axolotl is fit to survive in the current wild, then that's it, no more axolotl. Evolution is not only filtering but also adapting, and it takes reproduction to do whatever (be it gene shuffling or else) to improve fitness.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by topmonk on Saturday November 18, 2017 @09:30PM (#15731916)
The answer is acceptance.
Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by QAPereo on Saturday November 18, 2017 @08:46PM (#15731787)
Bacteria.. Insects... Rodents.

All of us dead.

Re:The axolotl has nearly disappeared from its natural habitat by anigbrowl on Saturday November 18, 2017 @05:48PM (#15731086)
Presumably they don't want to wreck the ecosystem of other species. I mean you can't exactly order up an empty habitat on Amazon, though I'm sure Alexa is now working furiously on the concept in case any of the Axiolotls have money.