Longest Chinese giant salamander specimen (living)

The longest specimen of Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus currently known to be living is Karlo, an adult male living at Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic. It received Karlo in May 2015 from the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe, Germany, and when Karlo was officially measured at Prague Zoo on 18 December 2016 he was found to measure 1.58 m in total length. He weighed 35 kg, and was estimated to be 37–38 years old at that time. A worldwide check of other captive Chinese salamander specimens conducted by Prague Zoo failed to find evidence for any currently living specimen longer than Karlo.

The Chinese giant salamander is the largest species of amphibian alive today, and it lives in mountain streams in north-eastern, central and southern China. One record-breaking specimen collected in Hunan Province measured 1.8 m in length and weighed 65 kg.

Two somewhat smaller giant salamander species also exist, in Japan and the USA respectively.

Giant salamanders are also the longest-living amphibians, and have been known to survive for 55 years.