Questions for ‘Living mysteries: This critter has 38 times more DNA than you do’
![A underwater photo of a Neuse River waterdog, a salamander with mottled brown and tan skin and red gill tufts just behind its head. It is resting on a bed of river rocks.](https://www.snexplores.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1440_extreme_genomes_waterdog_feat-1030x580.jpg)
The Neuse River waterdog (Necturus lewisi) has the largest genome of any four-footed animal on Earth, 38 times the size of the human genome. This salamander inhabits two small river drainages in North Carolina. It is currently listed as a threatened species.
Melissa McGaw/NC Water Resources Commission