Great Crested Newt
Encyclopedia
The Great Crested Newt, also called Northern Crested Newt or Warty Newt (Triturus cristatus) is a newt
in the family Salamandridae
, found across Europe and parts of Asia.
and Brittany
in the west across much of Europe
north of the Alps
and the Black Sea
. It is the biggest and least common of the three newts found in the British Isles
and is one of only four amphibians which are protected by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan
.
Several closely related species were formerly considered to be subspecies
of the Great Crested Newt: the Italian Crested Newt
(Triturus carnifex), the Danube Crested Newt
(Triturus dobrogicus) and the Southern Crested Newt
(Triturus karelinii).
, Wales
and Scotland
, it is a protected species under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
, and under equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland
. It is also a European Protected Species
and as such it has additional protection in the UK under Regulation 39 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (the Habitats Regulations), as amended by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. It is an offence to:
Other EU countries have similar legislation, implementing the Habitats Directive.
In the United Kingdom
, habitat of the Great Crested Newt has diminished due to land development pressure from population growth
and agricultural expansion; for example, it is considered eliminated from its prior range at the Portlethen Moss Nature Reserve in Scotland
.
Where development activities may interfere with Great Crested Newt populations, exclusion systems such as newt fencing
may be put in place to prevent the newts from entering a development site. Newt fencing may also be used to create a receptor site or 'newt-safe' area where Great Crested Newts can be translocated to, from an area where they are under threat.
Within the UK guidance on development in relation to Great Crested Newts can be found within Natural England's Great Crested Newt Mitigation Guidelines which should be followed by developers.
Males can be distinguished from females by the presence of a jagged crest during the breeding season. This runs along their backs, then a separate smoother-edged crest runs above and below the tail (in some other species of newts the crest along the back is continuous with the tail crest). They also have a silver-grey stripe that runs along the tail.
Females lack a crest, but have a yellow-orange stripe along the lower edge of their tail and often a marked orange stripe along the top of the lower back and tail.
Great Crested Newts normally live on land but breed in ponds and pools. Breeding is similar to that of other newts. After performing a courtship display, the male deposits a spermataphore (a small packet of sperm) from his cloaca
(reproductive and excretory opening) in the path of the female. He then moves sideways in front of her to gently encourage her into a position where the spermataphore will be pressed against and picked up by her cloaca - so "mating" is done without direct contact.
The female lays two or three eggs a day between March and mid July, until 200 to 300 eggs have been laid. The eggs are laid on submerged aquatic plants, each carefully wrapped in a leaf.
The larvae (or efts) hatch after about three weeks and then live in the pond as aquatic predators. They are vulnerable to fish
predation, and water bodies containing fish are rarely used for breeding (this means that they do not usually use running water, larger lakes nor many garden ponds).
After metamorphosis
into air-breathing juveniles at about four months old, they live a terrestrial life until old enough to breed, which is at about two or three years of age. They may disperse at this age as far as 800 metres (about half a mile).
Both the juvenile newts and the adults (outside the breeding season) live in terrestrial habitats with dense cover, such as scrub, rough grass and woodland, usually within about 200 metres of the breeding pond. They rest during the day beneath rocks, logs or other shelter.
Larval newts usually feed on tadpoles, worms, insects and insect larvae. Adults hunt in ponds for other newts, tadpoles, young froglets, worms, insect larvae and water snails. They also hunt on land for insects, worms and other invertebrates.
During the winter months they hibernate under logs and stones or in the mud at the bottom of their breeding ponds. The newts normally return to the same breeding site each year, and can live as much as 27 years, although up to about 10 years is more usual.
Newt
A newt is an aquatic amphibian of the family Salamandridae, although not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts. Newts are classified in the subfamily Pleurodelinae of the family Salamandridae, and are found in North America, Europe and Asia...
in the family Salamandridae
Salamandridae
Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Currently, 74 species have been identified in the northern hemisphere - Europe, Asia, the northern tip of Africa and North America...
, found across Europe and parts of Asia.
Distribution
The range of the Great Crested Newt extends from Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
in the west across much of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
north of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. It is the biggest and least common of the three newts found in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and is one of only four amphibians which are protected by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan
Biodiversity Action Plan
A Biodiversity Action Plan is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems. The original impetus for these plans derives from the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity...
.
Several closely related species were formerly considered to be subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Great Crested Newt: the Italian Crested Newt
Italian Crested Newt
The Italian Crested Newt is a species of newt in the family Salamandridae.It is found in Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands...
(Triturus carnifex), the Danube Crested Newt
Danube Crested Newt
The Danube Crested Newt is a species of salamander in the Salamandridae family.It is found in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and possibly Slovenia.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate...
(Triturus dobrogicus) and the Southern Crested Newt
Southern Crested Newt
The Southern Crested Newt is a terrestrial European newt. It is similar to the Great Crested Newt except larger and more robust.- Physical Characteristics :...
(Triturus karelinii).
Conservation status
Since the 1940s, populations of Great Crested Newts have declined in most of Europe due to loss of habitat. In EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, it is a protected species under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom and was implemented to comply with the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds...
, and under equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It is also a European Protected Species
European Protected Species
European Protected Species are species of plants and animals protected by law throughout the European Union. They are listed in Annexes II and IV of the European Habitats Directive....
and as such it has additional protection in the UK under Regulation 39 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (the Habitats Regulations), as amended by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. It is an offence to:
- Intentionally kill, injure or take a Great Crested Newt
- Possess or control any live or dead specimen or anything derived from a Great Crested Newt
- Intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to any structure or place used for shelter or protection by a Great Crested Newt (in practice this means both its breeding sites, and its terrestrial habitat)
- Intentionally or recklessly disturb a Great Crested Newt while it is occupying a structure or place which it uses for that purpose.
Other EU countries have similar legislation, implementing the Habitats Directive.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, habitat of the Great Crested Newt has diminished due to land development pressure from population growth
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
and agricultural expansion; for example, it is considered eliminated from its prior range at the Portlethen Moss Nature Reserve in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Where development activities may interfere with Great Crested Newt populations, exclusion systems such as newt fencing
Newt fencing
Newt fencing is a barrier designed to control the movement of Great Crested Newts, other amphibians or reptiles. It can also be called drift fencing or temporary amphibian fencing . It consists of a low fence of plastic sheeting, buried a short way into the ground and supported by lightweight...
may be put in place to prevent the newts from entering a development site. Newt fencing may also be used to create a receptor site or 'newt-safe' area where Great Crested Newts can be translocated to, from an area where they are under threat.
Within the UK guidance on development in relation to Great Crested Newts can be found within Natural England's Great Crested Newt Mitigation Guidelines which should be followed by developers.
Description
Great Crested Newts have dark grey-brown backs and flanks, and are covered with darker coloured spots so that they appear almost black in colour. Their undersides are either yellow or orange-coloured and are covered in large black blotches, which have a unique pattern in each individual.Males can be distinguished from females by the presence of a jagged crest during the breeding season. This runs along their backs, then a separate smoother-edged crest runs above and below the tail (in some other species of newts the crest along the back is continuous with the tail crest). They also have a silver-grey stripe that runs along the tail.
Females lack a crest, but have a yellow-orange stripe along the lower edge of their tail and often a marked orange stripe along the top of the lower back and tail.
Behaviour
Cloaca
In zoological anatomy, a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive, and urinary tracts of certain animal species...
(reproductive and excretory opening) in the path of the female. He then moves sideways in front of her to gently encourage her into a position where the spermataphore will be pressed against and picked up by her cloaca - so "mating" is done without direct contact.
The female lays two or three eggs a day between March and mid July, until 200 to 300 eggs have been laid. The eggs are laid on submerged aquatic plants, each carefully wrapped in a leaf.
The larvae (or efts) hatch after about three weeks and then live in the pond as aquatic predators. They are vulnerable to fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
predation, and water bodies containing fish are rarely used for breeding (this means that they do not usually use running water, larger lakes nor many garden ponds).
After metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
into air-breathing juveniles at about four months old, they live a terrestrial life until old enough to breed, which is at about two or three years of age. They may disperse at this age as far as 800 metres (about half a mile).
Both the juvenile newts and the adults (outside the breeding season) live in terrestrial habitats with dense cover, such as scrub, rough grass and woodland, usually within about 200 metres of the breeding pond. They rest during the day beneath rocks, logs or other shelter.
Larval newts usually feed on tadpoles, worms, insects and insect larvae. Adults hunt in ponds for other newts, tadpoles, young froglets, worms, insect larvae and water snails. They also hunt on land for insects, worms and other invertebrates.
During the winter months they hibernate under logs and stones or in the mud at the bottom of their breeding ponds. The newts normally return to the same breeding site each year, and can live as much as 27 years, although up to about 10 years is more usual.
See also
- Holnest SSSI, DorsetHolnest SSSI, DorsetHolnest SSSI, Dorset is a 54.83 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset, notified in 2004.The site has a large population of Great Crested Newts.-Source:* -External links:*...
- Great Crested Newt Conservation Handbook
- Froglife (British conservation charity)