What's in a name? Bronx Zoo proudly displays 'snot otters'
By Associated Press
Apr 26, 2017 1:57 PM CDT
This April 18, 2017 photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society shows an Eastern hellbender salamander, also known as a "snot otter," at New York's Bronx Zoo, in the Bronx borough of New York. Eastern hellbenders have flattened heads and bodies, small eyes, and slimy, wrinkly skin. They're typically...   (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — It's a salamander by any other name — and some of those names are comical.

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo is now proudly displaying two Eastern hellbenders — also known as "devil dogs," ''snot otters" or "old lasagna sides."

Eastern hellbenders have flattened heads and bodies, small eyes, and slimy, wrinkly skin. They're typically brown or reddish-brown with a pale underbelly.

There's also a serious side to the subject. Efforts are underway to conserve dwindling hellbender populations in the wild.

Adult hellbenders can be nearly 2 feet long. Only two larger salamander species are known to exist.