The alpine Acanthus salamander is an amphibian of the family Salamandridae and genus Acanthus. It lives in degraded secondary shrub forests near the top of the mountain, surrounded by tall grass and rhododendrons, and scattered wetlands and still water ponds. The environment is humid and foggy most of the time. Adult salamanders hide in rocks or plant roots during the day. The same habitat also houses the harp frog, the broad marsh frog, the Chinese giant toad, the Chinese rain frog, and the white-jawed tree frog.
In June 2022, researchers from the School of Biology and Environment of Nanjing Forestry University also discovered that the two sister species, Zhenhai Acanthus and Alpine Acanthus, are subgenera endemic to China, and named them Sino-saurus.
Listed in the second level of the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife in China".