Living fossil. The Chinese Giant Salamander belongs to the family, Cryptobranchidae. These large amphibians have fossil records going back 170 million years to the Jurassic period. Successfully surviving the extinction event marking the end of the Cretaceous period Giant salamanders are threatened today by habitat loss and over hunting for the luxury food market. A full adult Chinese Giant Salamander can reach 1.8 m in size. Come see the replica Giant Chinese Salamander on display in our Monster

Mud puppy 🙂! #Diplocaulus “double stem” was named by Cope in 1877 based off of… vertebrae! It had nothing to do with the awesome “boomerang” shape of the skull, which was found later. I grew up believing ‘Diplo’ referred to the skull. Nope! Cope wrote, “The vertebrae of this genus much more nearly resemble those of a salamander than any hitherto found in this formation, but it will be necessary to observe the cranium before this point can be determined.” My guess is the name refers to aspects o