The disappearance of Japan’s giant salamander is giving biologists and conservationists reason to worry. Although the species is endemic to Japan, the extinction of this freshwater amphibian would be felt worldwide.Known in Japan as the “living fossil” because its skeleton is nearly identical to that of a fossil dating back 30 million years, the giant salamander can grow to over five feet long and has a lifespan comparable to humans.

On its Web site, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists the Japanese giant salamander’s conservation status as “Near Threatened.” Any species falling within this category may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future.

In the 1950s, the Japanese government formally recognized the giant salamander as a national treasure, and it received protected species status. But with the construction of dams, artificial riverbanks, and the general alteration of river courses throughout Japan, this status has become more or less obsolete.

“Suitable habitats,” likewise, “are becoming increasingly fragmented,” according to the IUCN’s Web site. Given that the last official assessment of the dwindling salamander population was made in 2004, the organization claims that exact current numbers cannot be known.

“Many Japanese rivers are now, in reality, canals – boxed in, concrete, guided down valleys to keep floodwaters away from homes and secure a supply to the irrigation systems,” said BBC’s environmental correspondent Richard Black.

“For certain organisms, the negative impact of humans on the environment is felt rather quickly,” said Associate Professor and Education Studies chair David Hildreth.

“This is especially true for organisms such as salamanders as they are amphibians and often considered as an ecological indicator,” added Hildreth, who specializes in biology and science education.

The scientific importance of the giant salamander lies in two main areas: the first is its identity as the “living fossil,” and as such, its apparent lack of evolution. The second, and farther-reaching, is the giant salamander’s peaceful co-existence with an otherwise lethal type of fungus known as chytrid.

This fungus, which has devastated amphibious life all over the world, appears to enjoy a symbiotic relationship with Japan’s giant salamander. According to Black, a team of researchers led by Koichi Goka from Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies published research last year showing that, “certain strains of chytrid were present on Japanese giant salamanders, and only on Japanese giant salamanders, including museum specimens from a century or so back.”

With Japan’s giant salamander under threat from habitat destruction, climate change, and lingering disease, a number of institutions have set up captive breeding programs. As part of their technique, these programs attempt to aid the reproductive cycle by building artificial, concrete dens in which the salamanders can breed.

Yet many conservation scientists are still worried.

“Any time humans corrupt the environment, it is often a long process to help restore that damage and to allow time for nature to heal itself,” said Hildreth. “Something key to consider is that it takes more than just evacuating humans from an environment in order to save a species.