Chinese giant salamander
| Chinese giant salamander | |
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| Chinese giant salamander at Shanghai Aquarium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Caudata |
| Family: | Cryptobranchidae |
| Genus: | Andrias |
| Species: | A. davidianus |
| Binomial name | |
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Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Megalobatrachus davidianus (Reviewed by Liu, 1950) |
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| Chinese giant salamander | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大鯢 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 大鲵 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 娃娃魚 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 娃娃鱼 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "baby fish" | ||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dà ní |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Daai6-ngai4 |
| Jyutping | Daaih-ngàih |
| Southern Min | |
| Tâi-lô | Tuā-ngé |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Wāwā yú |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Wā-wā yùh |
| Jyutping | Waa1-waa1 jyu4 |
| Southern Min | |
| Tâi-lô | Ua-ua hî |
Megalobatrachus davidianus (Reviewed by Liu, 1950)
The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is the largest salamander and largest amphibian in the world, reaching a length of 180 cm (5.9 ft), although it rarely reaches that size today. It is fully aquatic and is endemic to rocky mountain streams and lakes in China. It has been introduced to Kyoto Prefecture in Japan and possibly Taiwan. It is considered critically endangered due to habitat loss, pollution, and overcollection, as it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese medicine. It has been listed as one of the top 10 "focal species" in 2008 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) project. The Chinese giant salamander is considered to be a "living fossil." Although protected under Chinese law and CITES Appendix I, it is estimated that the wild population has declined by more than 80% since the 1950s.
The correct scientific name of this species has been argued to be Andrias scheuchzeri (in which case Andrias davidianus would be a junior synonym) – a name otherwise restricted to an extinct species described from Swiss fossils. It has also been given the moniker of "living fossil" for being part of the family Cryptobranchidae which dates back 170 million years. It is one of only three extant species of the family, the others being the slightly smaller, but otherwise very similar Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), and the far smaller North American hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis).
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Wikipedia