The Japanese giant salamander, a rare amphibian known as a “living fossil”, is at risk of disappearing as a distinct species as interbreeding with its Chinese relative increases.
The Japanese giant salamander, a rare amphibian known as a “living fossil”, is at risk of disappearing as a distinct species as interbreeding with its Chinese relative increases.
Over the years, hybrids between Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders have proliferated in western Japan, sounding alarm bells and touching off a flurry of activities to preserve the native species.
The Japanese giant salamander, which at up to 1.5 metres in length is the world’s second-largest amphibian after its Chinese relative, inhabits rivers and streams in the Chugoku, Kinki and Chubu regions of western and central Honshu, Japan’s main island, and parts of Shikoku and Kyushu islands.