Pennsylvania is getting an official amphibian.
The House voted on Tuesday to grant the honor to the Eastern hellbender, which is a nocturnal salamander who can grow to be more than two feet long. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office says he plans to sign it the legislation.
State Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming, who helped shepherd the bill through the House, said hellbenders had been on decline.
“Not many people have actually seen hellbenders,” Everett said after the vote. “They live only in very clean streams, and they live under rocks.”
Hellbenders don’t have federal protected status, and while some states give them that status, Pennsylvania does not.
