🦎 Two-thirds of all salamander species are lungless; instead, they breathe through their skin. A salamander’s body absorbs oxygen, but it can also absorb other elements, too. Because of this, they are very susceptible to pollution and toxins in the environment. . . . 🚯 The health of a salamander population in an area says a lot about the health of the whole ecosystem. The best things folks at home can do for salamanders are to refrain from polluting; be mindful of the pesticides you use in you

In a recently published study, giant salamanders at the Zoo strutted their stuff to help scientists explore animal locomotion! Researchers believe giant salamanders can be a model for studying the movement of early digit-bearing tetrapods (four-legged animals) and several of the Zoo's hellbenders and Japanese giant salamanders were filmed for the study. The footage of their movement was turned into lifelike 3D models for researchers to analyze. The models will remain open-source and open-access,