I recently skimmed this article on about hellbenders in Allegheny Co., Maryland. I had planned initially on looking up more about these, but I dallied about, and never got around to it.

It caught back up with me in the last few days of my summer biology course when the instructor actually mentioned hellbenders himself... So I found myself finally getting around to looking up more on them.

Image via Wikipedia

All known giant salamanders are cryptobranchids, and as it turns out, our local giant salamander, the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), is on the small side at 29 inches long. The Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders (Andrias japonicus-image at right courtesy of Wikipedia-- and Andrias davidianus, respectively) grow much larger, around 5 feet long!

I was amazed to read in Williamsport-Sun Gazette article that hellbenders can live 30-50 years! I did not expect that kind of longevity in an amphibian.

Sadly, all of the giant salamander species are threatened. If only more people knew about these incredible amphibians, maybe there would be more support for them.

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