| Marbled Newt | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Caudata |
| Family: | Salamandridae |
| Genus: | Triturus |
| Species: | T. marmoratus |
| Binomial name | |
| Triturus marmoratus |
|
The Marbled Newt (Triturus marmoratus) is a mainly terrestrial newt native to Europe.
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Marbled newts have dark brown or black bodies with irregular patterns of green. They have black bellies with off-white specks. Adult females have an orange stripe running down the back from the head to the tip of the tail. Juveniles also have this stripe, but it fades on males at about 9 months. Breeding males have a large wavy crest that runs from its neck down to the tip of its tail, but is a little bit shorter were the tail meets the body. The crest is striped yellowish-white with black. Adult Marbled Newts are from 5 inches (13 cm) to 6.5 inches (17 cm) long.[1]
Marbled newts live throughout most of France, and northern Spain west to the top third of Portugal. They have a slight overlap with the Pygmy Marbled Newt (T. pygmaeus), which take over southern Spain. Marbled Newts are absent from a lot of the Pyrenees because of dry and unstable conditions. In northern France the populations are more scattered due to the presence of the Great Crested Newt (t. cristatus), which the Marbled Newt hybridizes with to some extent. The higher elevation Mediterranean climates are the preferred habitat of Marbled Newts, and in the overlap, T. pygmaeus takes the lower elevations.
Studies have found that Marbled Newts use the stars to orient them on the way to their breeding pools.[2]