Hellbender — printable fact sheet
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Hellbender
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis is North America's largest amphibian, reaching 74 cm, and it lives its whole life under a single large flat rock in a cold, fast Appalachian or Ozark stream. It has lungs but barely uses them for gas exchange; instead it absorbs oxygen through skin t…
Did you know?
- Hellbenders can live up to 30 years in the wild, making them one of the longest-lived amphibians in North America.
- Hellbenders can live 25 to 30 years or more, and many wild populations are now composed almost entirely of old adults with no successful recruitment - a slow-motion extinction that looks stable until the last generation dies. Their local names include snot otter, devil dog, Allegheny alligator and lasagna lizard, the last a nod to the frilly skin folds. Guarding males sometimes eat some of their own eggs, apparently trading a portion of the clutch for the energy to keep guarding the rest.
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