The Chinese salamanders reveal that generating diversity through neoteny was already established by 150 million years ago, which may explain why parallel evolution is so common in salamanders. Despite their longevity over evolutionary time, salamanders today are disappearing worldwide. Here is an animal that has been around for at least 150 million years. They made it through several major extinction events. Yet today, along with other amphibians, salamanders are disappearing and we really don't know why.
Major fossil find reveals Asian origins of salamanders .
No living organism is immune.