Southern Crested Newt

Southern Crested Newt
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Salamandridae
Genus: Triturus
Species: T. karelinii
Binomial name
Triturus karelinii
(Strauch, 1870)
Varieties

Triturus karelinii karelinii Triturus karelinii arntzeni
Synonyms
  • Triton karelinii (Strauch, 1870)
  • Triton longipes (Strauch, 1870)
  • Molge cristata var. karelinii (Boulenger, 1882)
  • Molge cristata var. longipes (Boulenger, 1882)
  • Triton cristatus var. karelinii (Durigen, 1897)
  • Triton lobatus spp. meridionalis (Fatio, 1900)
  • Turanomolge mensbieri (Nikolskii, 1918)
  • Molge karelinii var. macedonica (Karman, 1922)
  • Triton cristatus karelinii forma taurica (Wolterstorff, 1923)
  • Triton cristatus karelinii forma byzanthina (Wolterstroff, 1923)
  • Triton cristatus karelinii forma bureschi (Wolterstorff, 1925)
  • Triotn (Neotriton) carnifex karelinii (Bolkay, 1927)
  • Triturus cristatus karelinii (Mertens & Muller, 1928)
  • Triturus cristatus karelinii forma rilaica (Buresch & Zonkov, 1941)
  • Turanomolge menzbieri (Terentjev & Chernov, 1949)
  • Triturus cristatus carnifex var. albanicus (Dely, 1959)
  • Triturus cristatus karelinii (Mertens & Wermuth, 1960)

The Southern Crested Newt (Triturus karelinii) is a terrestrial European newt. It is similar to the Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) except larger and more robust.

Contents

Physical Characteristics

Southern Crested Newts are brown to gray dorsaly, with darker patches scattered about. Their bellys and throats are orange, with small black dots. They get up to 7.1 inches, or 18 centimeters.[1] Males have a large jagged crest going from behind the neck down to their tails.

Range

Southern Crested Newts live from Serbia east to the Caspian Sea, and south to central Turkey.[1]

Habitat

The Southern Crested Newt lives in a variety of mountain habitats, including both broadleaf and coniferous forests, slopes and plateaus.[1]

Life cycle

With Southern Crested Newts sexual maturity is reached at 3 or 4 years. During the breeding season they are found in most sources of water such as swamps, lakes, stagnant ponds, ditches and temporary pools, and streams.[1] Males usually live to about 8, and females to 11 years old.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d livingunderworld.org [1]; Accessed 12/22/06
  2. ^ www-leca.ujf-grenoble.fr [2] Accessed 1/3/07

External links