Abstract
IN NATURE, vol. xix. p. 155, Mr. S. F. Clarke's observations on the cannibal habits so rapidly developed by the larvæ of the New England salamanders are cited in illustration of the survival of the fittest. The fact that similar tendencies are invariably betrayed very early in life by theyoung of the common Mexican Axolotl (Siredon mexicanum), numbers of which are annually hatched out in the Brighton Aquarium, may perhaps be of interest. Many of the smaller and weaker ones are bodily devoured by their stronger brethren of the same brood, an inclination which is so marked that systematic over-feeding is resorted to in order to arrest the diminution in the number of specimens.
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CRANE, A. “Survival of the Fittest”. Nature 19, 197 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019197c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019197c0
