Happy birthday to us!

For 50 years, we’ve been giving readers what they want. That’s why we decided to celebrate our birthday this month by giving you a gift—a magazine filled with Weird But True! facts about axolotls, birthdays, amazing animals, peculiar planets, Earth’s oddest spots, and more. We might as well wrap up this special issue and put a bow on it.

Meet our cover critter! We sent Nat Geo photographer Rebecca Hale down to Mexico City, Mexico, to snap pics of this cutie at the Axolotitlán, or National Museum of the Axolotl. Here, scientists care for these creatures and educate the public about them. Get a behind-the-scenes look at her photoshoot below!

axolotl behind the scenes

The setup to photograph an axolotl at Mexico City's Axolotitlán, or National Museum of the Axolotl.

REBECCA HALE, NG STAFF

Next, get the party started with a few bonus birthday Weird But True! facts:

On each birthday, you’re 31,536,000 seconds older than you were on your last birthday.
From one birthday to the next, your nails will grow about 1.2 inches.
In ancient Greece, smoke from blown-out candles was said to carry wishes to the gods.
If 23 people gather in a group, there’s about a 50 percent chance that at least two of them will share the same birthday.

Read This Next

Axolotls (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhls) are salamanders! Thes amphibians spend their whole lives underwater. They exist in the wild in only one place on Earth—the lake complex of Xochimilco (pronounced SO-chee-MILL-koh), a network of artificial channels, small lakes, and temporary wetlands that help supply water to the millions of residents in nearby Mexico City. Axolotls have long fascinated scientists for their ability to regenerate lost body parts and for their rare trait of neoteny, which means they retain larval features throughout life. Rather than undergoing typical metamorphosis, axolotls keep their youthful appearance, including their tadpolelike dorsal fin and feathery external gills that fan out from the head. As they age, axolotls simply get bigger and bigger, like amphibious Peter Pans. In rare cases, axolotls have matured past the larval stage and emerged onto land as adult salamanders. Neoteny doesn’t affect the axolotl’s ability to breed. Females mate with males and lay eggs underwater. As Mexico City has grown, the lake complex has shrunk and parts have become contaminated, distressing the axolotl population. The introduction of large numbers of carp and tilapia fish, which compete with axolotls for food and also eat axolotl eggs, has further lowered their population. A 2009 survey suggests there are fewer than 1,200 axolotls in the Xochimilco Lake complex. Axolotls feast on a menu of mollusks, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and some fish.

Funny Fill-In

Read This Next

Axolotl

Wacky Weekend: Animals of Madagascar

Party Animals

Weird But True: Planets