Italian crested newt

Description

It is a broad-headed, quite large newt. It reaches similar body lengths to the Northern crested newt (Triturus cristatus) - on average about 12 to 13 cm; in females at most over 20 cm. During the mating season, the males develop a dorsal crest that is not as high or as strongly serrated as in the Northern crested newt or the Danube crested newt. The dorsal crest is separated from the caudal margin by an incision - as in all crested newts (but compare: common newt). The upperpart appears light brownish-grey to dark brown, with dark round spots and is relatively smooth-skinned. Females in terrestrial display and juveniles often have a yellowish longitudinal line on the back. The throat is white spotted, the belly yellow or orange with dark, particularly "washed out" looking, not sharply defined spots. In contrast to the other crested newt species, the flanks are barely spotted with white. Especially the washed-out spotting and the lack of white dotting on the sides are considered the most important external identification features.

Habitat

During the mating season in spring and sometimes also during the summer, the animals stay in perennial, herbaceous pools and ponds. Crested newts in general are more seasonally bound to the water body than other newts.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpen-Kammmolch). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 29 June 2021