Japanese giant salamander, Andrias japonicus

These ‘living fossils’, measuring 1.5 m and weighing in at 20 kg, are the world’s second largest amphibians after the Chinese giant salamander. They live in cool mountain streams and clear rivers. Their spawn is deposited in specially burrowed water-filled nests close to the shore. They’re heavily endangered due to hunting for meat and dam-building. On the photograph you see a Japanese giant salamander protecting its nest.