Marble newt

Marble newt (Latin Triturus marmoratus) is another unusual member of the family of real salamanders. It has a dark brown or black body with a bright green pattern consisting of many stripes and dots. The black abdomen is also decorated with small white spots.



Adult females from males are easy to distinguish in appearance: along the whole body they have a thin orange strip, while in males it disappears at 9 months of age. Moreover, during the mating season, males have a high wavy comb on their back, which begins at the neck and extends to the tip of the tail. At the very base of the tail, the ridge makes a jumper.



The body length of adult marble newts can reach 16.5 cm. These spectacular tailed amphibians are found in northern Spain, Portugal and France. They live near standing bodies of water or small rivers with a slow current. Immediately after winter hibernation, they begin the breeding season, during which the newts move into the water.



Marble newts were so popular with local terrariumists that in some places their numbers were significantly reduced due to uncontrolled capture. In general, the IUCN classification is of the least concern.



In captivity, marble newts feel great in a spacious land terrarium with a reservoir. Ideally, if it has several shelters, and moss-sphagnum is used as soil.



It is curious that the area of the marble newt partially coincides with the area of another, no less interesting species - the dwarf marble newt. These two are so similar in appearance and way of life that previously scientists even attributed them to the same species.

Source: zoopicture.ru