Eastern gorilla
Grauer's gorillas and mountain gorillas were previously thought to be two of the three subspecies of one single species, the gorilla ("Gorilla gorilla"). However, genetic research has shown that the two eastern subspecies are far more closely related than the western subspecies: the western lowland gorilla ("G. gorilla gorilla"), which justified the separate classification. The two eastern subspecies are now classified as "G. beringei".
Largest organisms
The largest living amphibian is the Chinese giant salamander ("Andrias davidianus"). The maximum size of this nearly human-sized river-dweller is and almost . Before amniotes became the dominant tetrapods, several giant amphibian proto-tetrapods existed and were certainly the dominant animals in their ecosystems. The largest known was the crocodile-like "Prionosuchus", which reached a length of .
The largest known species of sea sponge is the giant barrel sponge, "Xestospongia muta". These massively built sponges can reach in height and can be of about the same number of feet across at the thickest part of the "body". Some of these creatures have been estimated to be over 2,400 years of age.