A newly identified amphibian is the world’s biggest. Researchers from the Zoological Society of London and London’s Natural History Museum identified the new species of giant salamander using the DNA from the specimens that were present in the museum.

The specimens were collected in the mid-1920s.

According to National Geographic, scientists have long known that the largest amphibians are the Chinese giant salamanders, which are known to grow more than 5 feet in length.

Unfortunately, the giant salamanders of China are critically endangered.

New DNA analysis shows that the giant salamanders of China are not just one species, but are rather 3.

Before, researchers thought they were only one.

The name that was given to the largest amphibian species is the “Andrias Sligoi”, which means the South China Giant Salamander.

The study’s new data analysis was published in the Journal Ecology an Evolution, which was released on September 17, 2019.

Professor Samuel Turvey of ZSL told BBC, “We hope that this new understanding of their species diversity has arrived in time to support their successful conservation, but urgent measures are required to protect any viable giant salamander populations that might remain.”

The decline in the number of salamanders in China is due to huge habitat loss and poaching.