the focus of interest among scientists. The first extensive cell-level study was by Vincenzo Colucci in 1886. Researchers have been trying to find out the conditions required for the growth of new limbs and hope that such regeneration could be replicated in humans using stem cells. Axolotls have been used in research and have been genetically engineered so that a fluorescent protein is present in cells in the leg, enabling the cell division process to be tracked under the microscope. It seems that after the loss of a limb, cells draw together to form a clump known as a blastema. This superficially appears undifferentiated, but cells that originated in the skin later develop into new skin, muscle cells into new muscle and cartilage cells into new cartilage. It is only the cells from just beneath the surface of the skin that are pluripotent and able to develop into any type of cell. Researchers from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute have found that when macrophages were removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate and instead formed scar tissue. If the processes involved in forming new tissue can be reverse engineered into humans, it may be possible to heal injuries of the spinal cord or brain, repair damaged organs and reduce scarring and fibrosis after surgery. Brandy A 1995 article in the Slovenian weekly magazine Mladina publicized salamander brandy, a liquor supposedly indigenous to Slovenia. It was said to combine hallucinogenic with aphrodisiac effects and is made by putting several live salamanders in a barrel of fermenting fruit. Stimulated by the alcohol, they secrete toxic mucus in defense and eventually die. Besides causing hallucinations, the neurotoxins present in the brew were said to cause extreme sexual arousal. Later research by Slovenian anthropologist Miha Kozorog (University of Ljubljana) paints a very different picture—Salamander in brandy appears to have been traditionally seen as an adulterant, one which caused ill health. It was also used as a term of slander. References Citations Cited texts External links Tree of Life: Caudata Salamander Gallery Caudata Culture Critter Crossings: Salamander Tunnels at U.S. Department of Transportation ArchéoZooThèque : Urodele skeleton drawing : available in vector, image and PDF formats Aposematic animals Articles containing video clips Extant Late Jurassic first appearances Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril