The big-headed, brown spotted, two-foot-long salamanders twisted and turned in their 2,500-gallon tanks, performing for the audience. At full size, the animals can grow to 5 feet long and weigh up ...

SAINT JAMES, NY — Gabe Finger, a senior at Smithtown High School East, believes he may have discovered a new salamander species, the school district announced. Finger presented his potential ...

The two-inch-long, “neotenic” Jollyville Plateau salamander retains gills for its entire life and spends all its time underwater, inhabiting springs, spring runs and wet caves fed by the Edwards ...

Crazier still, the 5-inch-long salamander will “drop its tail as a distraction, allowing escape,” the post noted. And they also “breathe through their skin,” the National Park Service says.

The rare salamanders are only found in a handful of east Tennessee caves. “This agreement is an important step toward securing long-overdue protections for the Berry Cave salamander and correcting a ...

This story ran in the April 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine. More than 20 million years ago a salamander hatchling less than three-quarters of an inch long met a traumatic end.