1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren vocal Bomb. Here picture a remote freshwater 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: stream somewhere in the eastern United States. The water is cool, 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: there's a reasonably fast current, and the bottom is littered 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: with big flat rocks. Sounds peaceful, doesn't it. What you're 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: imagining is a perfect environment for trout and for something 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: else too. Every so often, anglers who cast their lines 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: in such places wind up catching North America's biggest salamander. 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: This thing leaves an impression. Specimens measuring twees long that's 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: seventy three have been documented, and the beefiest adults wagh 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: four to five pounds that's about two to two and 12 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: a half kilos. These four legged amphibians have compressed heads 13 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: and torsos, meaning that, judging by outward appearance, could think 14 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: someone had squished these critters flat with a rolling pin. 15 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: Another key attribute is their browned to grayish skin, which 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: hangs noticeably loose around their flanks. Early settlers didn't know 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: what to make of these guys. Baffled by their appearance, 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: some folks began calling them snot otters, devil dogs, or 19 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: mud devils. The species wouldn't receive its formal scientific name 20 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: Crypto branches alleganiensis until eight o three, but nowadays most 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: people know this strange salamander as the hell bender. Hellbenders 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: are divided into two subspecies. Northern Arkansas and southern Missouri 23 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: are the home of the endangered Ozark hell bender. The 24 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: eastern hellbender has a broader distribution, having spread itself across 25 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: the Greater Appalachian region and parts of the Midwest, though 26 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: sadly it's also got conservationists worried. Some amphibians are equally 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: at home on land and in the water, but hellbenders 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: are more or less totally aquatic. Their skin absorbs oxygen, 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: pulling it straight out of the water. That leaves hellbenders 30 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: at the mercy of pollutants and the excess silt and 31 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: runoff dumped into their streams by forest clearing projects. Sure 32 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't help. One report published in two thousand seven 33 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: by the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that the 34 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: ozark hellbender will become functionally extinct by the year twenty 35 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: twenty six in less protective measures are taken. As of 36 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, it was still classified as endangered by the 37 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: US Fish and Wildlife Service, which has said that, in 38 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: some good news, most populations of the Eastern hellbender are 39 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: not in danger of extinction and therefore do not warrant 40 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: listing under the Endangered Species Act. To help boost populations 41 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: of the Ozark hellbender, the St. Louis Zoo teamed up 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: with the Missouri Department of Conservation and established a successful 43 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: breeding program in twenty eleven, and just last year, Pennsylvania 44 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: raised awareness about this wonderful species by naming the Eastern 45 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: hellbender its official state amphibian. Maybe such efforts will improve 46 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: the salum enders pr There's a pervasive belief that the 47 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: hellbender has a venomous bite, but this is untrue. The 48 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: hellbender wield no venom, and despite rumors to the contrary, 49 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: the amphibians do not hurt game fish populations. Crawfish make 50 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: up over the hellbender's diet. Other potential prey items include tadpoles, 51 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: smaller salamanders, and small fish. The creatures are most active 52 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: at night. They spend their days taking refuge under submerged 53 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: logs or stream bottom rocks. Hellbenders avoid humans, but they 54 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: will aggressively defend their territories against fellow members of their species. 55 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: So unless you are a rival salamander, a potential mate, 56 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: or a yummy crawfish, these beasties would just as soon 57 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: leave you alone. Disposition wise, they couldn't be less hellish. 58 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: Maybe it's time to start calling them heckbenders. Today's episode 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: was written by Mark Fancini and produced by Tyler Clang. 60 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other heckish topics, 61 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: visit how stuff works dot com. Green Stuff is a 62 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: production of my heart Radio. For more podcasts in my 63 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 64 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.