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African bullfrogFire salamander
Photo of the Chinese giant salamander
AsiaCritically endangered

Chinese giant salamander

Andrias davidianus

The biggest amphibian in the world, living in cold, rocky mountain streams in China.

Weight
Up to 50 kg
Size
Up to 1.8 m long
Lifespan
Over 60 years
Top speed
Slow
Diet
Fish, crabs, insects

How heavy is that?

As heavy as 1 kid (40 kg each)

Where it lives

Three things to know

  1. It breathes mostly through its wrinkly skin.
  2. It hardly ever leaves the water.
  3. It can make a sound like a crying baby.
Try the body explorerSee its neighbours

Compare with…

Weight
Chinese giant salamander50 kg
A 10-year-old kid40 kg
The Chinese giant salamander weighs about 1.3× as much as the kid
Size
Chinese giant salamander1.8 m
A 10-year-old kid1.4 m
The Chinese giant salamander is about 1.3× as big as the kid
Top speed
Chinese giant salamander—
A 10-year-old kid20 km/h
Too slow to time
Lifespan
Chinese giant salamander60 yrs
A 10-year-old kid80 yrs
The kid can live about 1.3× as long as the Chinese giant salamander

Food chain

  1. Tiny algaeProducer
  2. Small fish
  3. Chinese giant salamanderThis animal

Nothing hunts a healthy adult