Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
378 / Cenozoic
Andrias scheuchzeri
Andrias scheuchzeri
Its skeleton was once mistaken for a human killed in the biblical flood.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 17–5 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Miocene
- Geographic range
- Forested lakes and rivers · Europe
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Andrias scheuchzeri?
Andrias scheuchzeri (Andrias scheuchzeri) was an extinct organism known from About 17–5 million years ago, with a range in Forested lakes and rivers · Europe.
Life and ecology
This giant salamander waited on cool river and lake bottoms for fish and crustaceans.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Andrias scheuchzeri disappear?
Late Miocene cooling and the reorganization of European drainage are possible context; a specific cause of its disappearance is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Andrias scheuchzeri?
Multiple compressed skeletons preserve the skull, trunk and limbs and document changing scientific interpretation.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS