The Colossal Chinese Salamander:

The Colossal Chinese Salamander:

GEC Dossier Entry:

“The creatures seem to be related to the now extinct giant Chinese salamander except for the fact that they are about two feet longer, have much stronger jaws, and possess a brightly colored collar of venomous spines around their necks, which flare out when threatened. It is our hypothesis that the spines are actually a type of sophisticated excretory organ, developed to deal with toxic runoff from the battlefields of the War. Thus, likelihood of vulnerability to poison or conventional water purifiers is low.”

“The creatures normal diet is unknown. A great deal of cannibalism has been observed between members of different social groups..”

While amphibians were thought to be extinct due to their vulnerability to chemical and biological weapon fallout, these salamanders have proved to be the exception. Vicious and cannibalistic, Vince has observed three different stages in the salamander’s life cycle:

Juvenile: Already two feet longer than a “standard” Giant Chinese Salamander, these creatures are brown-black in color with a ruff of thin red spines around their necks. They displayed a low degree of intelligence and were easily manipulated into squabbling over food (known food sources being their fellow salamanders and rats). Note: Both the juvenile and young adult salamanders are toothless and kill their food by snapping down on it with enormous force and swallowing it whole. Prey is kept down by spines in the mouth and throat that hook food downwards.

Developing Adult: Vince only encountered one of these, skulking in the sub levels of the Sha Tin water treatment plant. It is substantially larger than the Juveniles and much stronger, closer to an African crocodile in size. The jaw is elongated and two long, bumpy stripes have appeared on the creature’s back. Vince believes the bumps are poison secreting glands but is unsure. He also noted gills, though they are not especially prominent. Most interestingly, the long ruff has contracted into the neck and left only tiny nubs visible where the “mane” was previously.

Adult: Adults are elephantine in size and have undergone some of the most dramatic changes anatomically. The spines have pushed through the jaw to act as jagged pseudo-teeth and the salamander’s eyes have grown to the size of baseballs and shifted themselves to the top of the head where they now face forward.

No additional information has been obtained about the salamanders outside Vince’s personal experience.