![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)
Animals
Living mysteries: This critter has 38 times more DNA than you do
The genomes of salamanders are bloated with genetic “parasites.” That extra DNA slows down their lives and strands them in perpetual childhood.
By Douglas Fox