Because the salamander Megalobatrachus davidianus makes sounds like a baby crying, its common name in China is ‘baby fish’. The largest amphibian now in existence, it may grow to 180cm in length and weigh up to several dozen catties (1 catty = ½kg); one specimen caught in Hunan Province weighed 65kg. It is one of three salamander species belonging to the Cryptobranchidae. The other two, Cryptobranchus japonicus in Japan and C. alleganiensis in the eastern United States, are similar to the Chinese species in shape and size, but the American one is much smaller.