- Tylototriton verrucosus
Taxobox
name = Himalayan Newt
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Amphibia
ordo =Urodela
familia =Salamandridae
genus = "Tylototriton "
species = "T. verrucosus"
binomial = "Tylototriton verrucosus"
binomial_authority = Anderson, 1871 The Himalayan Newt "Tylototriton verrucosus" is a species ofsalamander found inSouth Asia andSoutheast Asia .Description
Tongue small, subareolar, free on the sides and slightly behind. Palatine teeth in two oblique series, meeting in front. A thick, bony fronto-squamosal arch; maxillary reaching quadrate; pterygoid applied to maxillary. Toes five. Tail compressed.Boulenger, G.A. (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]
Palatine series of teeth forming an inverted 'V', commencing on a line with, or a little in front of, the choanae. Head broader than long, surrounded by a prominent osseous porous ridge; a short similar ridge along the parietals; snout short, broad; eyes moderate; no labial lobes. Body 3 to 3.5 times the length of the head; no dorsal crest, but a broad prominent porous vertebral ridge, produced by the great development and transverse expansion of the neural processes of the dorsal vertebra; a series of 15 or 16 knob-like porous glands along the side, the last three behind the leg when it is extended at right angles to the body. Limbs moderate; fingers and toes free, depressed. Tail as long as head and body or a little longer, strongly compressed, with an upper and lower crest, ending in a point. Anal opening a longitudinal slit, the borders not much swollen. Skin tubercular; parotoids large, very distinct; a strong gular fold. Uniform blackish brown, paler on the lips, snout, chin, throat, and under surface of limbs; lower edge of tail orange-yellow.
They feed on spiders, worms, millipedes, scorpions, molluscs and a range of insects. [Devi, N. T. 2005. The food of the Himalayan Newt ("Tylotriton verrucosus" Anderson): A preliminary study. J. Bombay. Nat. Hist. Soc. 102(2):166-168]
Total length 6 inches; tail 3.
Mountains of Yunnan, Kakhyen Hills, Sikkim, Manipur.
References
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