Which animal is the world’s largest living amphibian?

The Chinese giant salamander is the world’s largest living amphibian.

This aquatic salamander is native to China and can reach extraordinary lengths, although many wild individuals are much smaller. It has a broad, flattened head, tiny eyes and loose, wrinkled skin. The skin contributes to gas exchange, an important adaptation for an animal that spends its life in cool, oxygen-rich streams.

Chinese giant salamanders are nocturnal predators. They use sensory organs and vibration detection to locate fish, crustaceans, insects and other prey, then swallow food rather than chewing it. Their external appearance can vary, and several distinct evolutionary lineages have been identified within animals historically grouped under one name.

The species has suffered severe declines from habitat loss, pollution, overharvesting and movement for farming. Conservation research increasingly distinguishes genetically different populations, because releasing animals from one lineage into another may harm local genetic diversity.