Giant Salamander
Andrias
Cryptobranchus
Cryptobranchidae is a family of salamander commonly known as the Giant Salamanders. A single species, the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) occurs in the eastern United States, while Asian species occur in both China and Japan. They are the largest living amphibians known today. The Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), for example, reaches up to 1.44 metres (4.7 ft), feeds on fish and crustaceans, and has been known to live for more than 50 years in captivity. The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) can reach a length of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft).
Read more about Giant Salamander: Etymology, Physical Description and Feeding, Taxonomy, Natural Habitat, Cultural References
Famous quotes containing the word giant:
“Of a truth, Knowledge is power, but it is a power reined by scruple, having a conscience of what must be and what may be; whereas Ignorance is a blind giant who, let him but wax unbound, would make it a sport to seize the pillars that hold up the long- wrought fabric of human good, and turn all the places of joy as dark as a buried Babylon.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)