| ▲ | culi 6 hours ago |
| 1000 wild ones. There's much more in captivity than in the wild. They evolved to be quite dependent on the unique agricultural islands in the Valley of Mexico called Chinampas. These were drained by the colonizers. Which is why Mexico City is now facing a severe water crisis and also why these creatures are endangered |
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| ▲ | mikestew 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Thanks, that's the clarification I was not getting from TFA. |
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| ▲ | ZeWaka 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Also why the whole region has so many sinkhole and similar drainage problems - it's literally built on a lake. |
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| ▲ | culi 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | Yup. A lake that used to fuel the single most productive agricultural system humans have ever practiced. It's sad but there is a strong indigenous movement to bring them back. The axolotl actually became a major symbol of indigenous resistance because of this movement | | |
| ▲ | ch4s3 8 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | > the single most productive agricultural system humans have ever practiced This is simply not true. The highiest maize yield per hectare I can find anywhere online for chinampas is less than half the 13.5 metric tons per hectare that farmers get in Iowa. The more reputable numbers are less than 1/4 of that. It's probably true that they were among the most productive pre-modern agricultural plots which is a great achievement, but there's no need to make things up. | |
| ▲ | trhway 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | How it was (a great interactive 3d reconstruction) https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/ | | |
| ▲ | culi 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | This is awesome, thanks for sharing. Andrew Wilson, who works with the United Nations World Food Program, also made an in-depth minidoc on them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86gyW0vUmVs | |
| ▲ | palata 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Wow this is amazing. Thank you! | | |
| ▲ | trhway 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | Thanks to the author and HN - it was posted here sometime ago, and being that impressive it naturally stuck in my memory like i'm sure now it will in yours :) | | |
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| ▲ | kitsune1 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
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