 It is one of only four to five known extant species of the family, the others being the slightly smaller, but otherwise very similar Japanese giant salamander ("Andrias japonicus"), the slightly larger South China giant salamander ("A. sligoi"), an undescribed species from eastern China, and the far smaller North American hellbender ("Cryptobranchus alleganiensis").A 2018 study of mitochondrial DNA revealed that there are five wild clades of the Chinese giant salamander, as well as two only known from captives (their possible wild range is unknown).They diverged from each other 4.71–10.25 million years ago and should possibly be recognized as cryptic species.