Hellbender salamanders call Tennessee and 14 other states in the United States home, including Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia ...

The large freshwater salamanders have a rapidly declining population ... four short, stout legs and a long rudder-like tail, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation ...

A hungry predator—perhaps a spider or bird or snake—ripped off its left front leg, leaving the stub of a bone jutting from its side. The salamander managed to escape but then must have fallen ...