Calotriton | |
---|---|
Pyrenean brook newt ( Calotriton asper ) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Urodela |
Family: | Salamandridae |
Subfamily: | Pleurodelinae |
Genus: | Calotriton Gray, 1858 |
Type species | |
Hemitriton punctulatus Dugès, 1852 | |
Diversity | |
2 species (see text) |
Calotriton, or the European brook newts, is a genus of newts native to the Pyrenees and central Catalonia (Catalan Pre-coastal Range). These amphibians were formerly placed within genus Euproctus , but the genus was resurrected in 2005. Instead of Euproctus , they seem more closely related to Triturus , their sister taxon. [1] [2]
Calotriton and Triturus are estimated to have split approximately 8 myr ago. This may have been associated with adaptation to fast-running, well-oxygenated mountain streams (instead of ponds in Triturus), leading to some superficial similarity with Euproctus in convergent evolution: strongly depressed head and body, and reduction or even absence of lungs. [3]
Calotriton are small- to medium-sized newts, 70–167 mm (2.8–6.6 in) in total length. Skin is covered with tubercles bearing horny tips, more so above than beneath, which can be completely smooth. Limbs are moderate, with four fingers and five toes. Body is rounded or slightly depressed. There is no cutaneous dorsal and caudal crest, not even during the breeding season. Tail is about as long as head and body and compressed from side; longer in females and deeper in males. Lungs are absent or very reduced. [3]
There are two species: [1] [4]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Calotriton arnoldi Carranza & Amat, 2005 | Montseny brook newt | Montseny Massif (Catalan Pre-Coastal Range) in northeast Spain | |
Calotriton asper (Dugès, 1852) | Pyrenean brook newt (formerly Euproctus asper) | the Pyrenees of Andorra, France, and Spain | |
The smooth newt, northern smooth newt or common newt is a species of newt. It is widespread in much of Eurasia, from the British Isles to Siberia and northern Kazakhstan, and introduced to Australia. Individuals are brown with an orange to white, spotted underside and reach a length of 8–11 cm (3.1–4.3 in), with males being larger than females. The skin is dry and velvety while the newts live on land but becomes smooth when they migrate into water for breeding. Breeding males develop a more vivid colour pattern and a conspicuous skin seam (crest) on their back.
The palmate newt is a species of newt found in Western Europe, from Great Britain to the northern Iberian peninsula. It is 5–9.5 cm (2.0–3.7 in) long and olive or brown with some dark spots. The underside is yellow to orange, and the throat, unlike in the similar smooth newt, always unspotted. A dark stripe runs along the head and through the eyes. Breeding males develop a distinct filament on the end of their tail, strongly webbed hind feet, and a low, smooth crest on their back.
Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is very granular because of the number of poison glands. They also lack nasolabial grooves. Most species of Salamandridae have moveable eyelids but lack lacrimal glands.
The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to 16 cm (6.3 in) long. Its back and sides are dark brown, while the belly is yellow to orange with dark blotches. Males develop a conspicuous jagged crest on their back and tail during the breeding season.
Triturus is a genus of newts comprising the crested and the marbled newts, which are found from Great Britain through most of continental Europe to westernmost Siberia, Anatolia, and the Caspian Sea region. Their English names refer to their appearance: marbled newts have a green–black colour pattern, while the males of crested newts, which are dark brown with a yellow or orange underside, develop a conspicuous jagged seam on their back and tail during their breeding phase.
The genus Taricha consists of four species of highly poisonous newts in the family Salamandridae. Their common name is Pacific newts, sometimes also western newts or roughskin newts. The four species within this genus are the California newt, the rough-skinned newt, the red-bellied newt, and the sierra newt, all of which are found on the Pacific coastal region from southern Alaska to southern California, with one species possibly ranging into northern Baja California, Mexico.
The Pyrenean brook salamander or Pyrenean newt, Calotriton asper, is a largely aquatic species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is found in the Pyrenees of Andorra, France, and Spain. The IUCN lists it as "near threatened" due to habitat loss.
Euproctus, the European mountain salamanders, is a genus of salamanders in the family Salamandridae from Sardinia and Corsica.
The Italian crested newt is a species of newt in the family Salamandridae.
The Danube crested newt or Danube newt is a species of newt found in central and eastern Europe, along the basin of the Danube river and some of its tributaries and in the Dnieper delta. It has a smaller and more slender body than the other crested newts in genus Triturus but like these, males develop a conspicuous jagged seam on back and tail during breeding season.
Ommatotriton or banded newts is a genus of salamanders in the family Salamandridae. The genus occurs in Western Asia and Caucasus. The species in this genus were formerly placed in the genus Triturus.
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts, however. More than 100 known species of newts are found in North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (eft), and adult. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and return to the water every year to breed, otherwise living in humid, cover-rich land habitats.
Ommatotriton ophryticus, the northern banded newt, is a species of newt in the family Salamandridae. It is found in northeastern Turkey and western Caucasus in Georgia, Armenia, and southern Russia.
The Montseny brook newt, Calotriton arnoldi, is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is endemic to the Montseny Massif in northeast Spain. Before it was formally described in 2005, it was mixed with the larger and more widely distributed Pyrenean brook salamander.
The Balkan crested newt or Buresch's crested newt is a newt species of the crested newt species complex in genus Triturus, found in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia.
Triturus macedonicus, the Macedonian crested newt, is a newt species of the crested newt species complex in genus Triturus, found in the Western Balkan peninsula.
Kosswig's smooth newt is a newt species found in northwestern Anatolia, east of the Bosphorus.
Schmidtler's smooth newt is a newt species found from northwestern Greece and southeast Bulgaria over East Thrace across the Bosphorus to northwest Anatolia. Its range borders that of the smooth newt, the Greek smooth newt and Kosswig's smooth newt to the north, west, and east, respectively.
Media related to Calotriton at Wikimedia Commons