Contrary to the longstanding view that newts (Notophthalamus viridescens), but not axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum), can regenerate a lens, a recent report in BMC Biology by Panagiotis Tsonis and colleagues shows axolotls indeed possess this ability during early larval stages. In contrast, they show that zebrafish never posses this ability, even as embryos. This underscores the importance of comparing regenerative ability across species and reinforces the need to consider organ regeneration in the context of evolution, development, and aging.