Cute vs. plain odd

I already wrote about how some things in science are just a matter of fashion. There are the latest hits, things everybody wants to do to get a piece of funds, fame or media exposure. Such topics, in biology at least could be: genetically modified organisms (as a threat), genomics (of course), extraterrestrial life (we saw a piece of that a few weeks ago), biomedicine (nothing to say here, except when they report things like "finding the gene of homosexuality"), and of course, the study and conservation of charismatic animals. This is all very well, however, focusing all efforts, money and publicity in campaigns to save the pandas, baby seals or cheetahs are taking away the focus (and the money) from preserving whole ecosystems and maybe not so cute creatures, but interesting anyway. This is important because most of life on Earth does not qualify (is not even close) as being cute. So, what will happen to ugly animals or lets say, plants or fungi, or even worse, moulds or smelly algae! Here is an example:

The first needs no introduction. And yes, it is adorable and it should be saved from extinction! But equally rare and even more threatened is the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a species of salamander that retained characteristics of a juvenile stage (keeps the gills like a tadpole) in a process called neoteny. This species is a narrow endemic of the wetlands of Mexico City and is therefore almost extinct. It has been used as a model organism for studies of animal development, but that has not helped the conservation of this species, because well, is not cute and fluffy. So I propose a PR campaign for the axolotl, maybe turn it into some kind of super hero, like the Xochimilco Avenger, or something like that. Just a thought...