 Velasco was interested in science, and, as a student at the Academy of San Carlos studied zoology and botany at the nearby medical school; he also studied mathematics, geology, and surveying before becoming a student of painting.In 1879, he described a new species of "Ambystoma" found in the Santa Isabel lake, north of Mexico City, and published his observations in the Mexican scientific journal "La Naturaleza" (La Naturaleza 4