Triturus

Taxobox
name = "Triturus"

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image_caption = "Triturus cristatus", the Great Crested Newt
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Caudata
familia = Salamandridae
subfamilia = Pleurodelinae
genus = "Triturus"
genus_authority = Rafinesque, 1815
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = Italian Crested Newt ("T. carnifex")

Great Crested Newt ("T. cristatus")

Danube Crested Newt ("T. dobrogicus")

Southern Crested Newt ("T. karelinii")

Marbled Newt ("T. marmoratus")

Pygmy Marbled Newt ("T. pygmaeus")

"Triturus" (from Triton, son of Poseidon and Greek: "ura", meaning tail) is a genus of newt, commonly known as the crested or marbled newts, depending on the species. They are found across most of Europe, parts of Russia and the Middle East. The genus includes the Great Crested Newt, the Italian Crested Newt, the Danube Crested Newt, the Southern Crested Newt, the Marbled Newt and the Pigmy or Southern Marbled Newt.

Behaviour

Members of this genus spend most of the year ashore only visiting the water in the breeding season for reproduction. Triturus exhibits the most complex courting ritual of all the newts. After performing a courtship display, the male deposits a spermataphore (a small packet of sperm) in the path of the female. He then moves sideways in front of the female to gently encourage and move her into a position where the spermataphore will be pressed against, and picked up by, her cloaca (reproductive and kidney opening). The female lays two or three eggs a day between March and mid July, until 200-300 eggs have been laid. The eggs are laid on submerged aquatic plants, and carefully wrapped in leaves. The larvae hatch after about 3 weeks and metamorphose into air breathing juveniles about 4 months later. Great crested newts become sexually mature adults between two and three years of age. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/478.shtml bbc.co.uk factfile 478] Retrieved 2007-11-30]

Taxonomy

The genus "Triturus" is a problem for taxonomists. One member, the Southern Crested Newt, has been classified eighteen different ways, and likewise the Marbled Newt. [http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/triturus/ livingunderworld.com; Order:Caudata] ; Accessed 2/5/07] "Triturus" has recently been split into four genera: "Lissotriton" for the small bodied species (formerly "T. boscai", "T. helveticus", "T. italicus", "T. montandoni" and "T. vulgaris"), "Ommatotriton" for the banded newts (formerly "T. ophryticus" and "T. vittatus"), "Mesotriton" (containing only the Alpine Newt, formerly "T. alpestris") and the remainder remain in "Triturus".

References

External links