MEXICO CITY -- Legend has it the axolotl was not always an amphibian. Long before it became Mexico's most beloved salamander and efforts to prevent its extinction flourished, it was a sneaky god.

Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and the gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids ...