Object Details
- Creator
- Cooke, Mordecai Cubitt
- Book Title
- Our reptiles and batrachians : a plain and easy account of the lizards, snakes, newts, toads, frogs and tortoises indigenous to Great Britain.
- Caption
- Great Warty Newt.
- Educational Notes
- If you touch this Great Warty Newt, dont worry; you wont actually get warts. In fact, the Great Warty Newt doesnt have any warts on its body. Its skin is spotted and bumpy, making it just seem like its warty. Found across the temperate regions of Eurasia, these newts are part of the salamander family and have long, slender bodies, long tails, and blunt snouts. As amphibians, their lifecycle includes time living on land and time living in the water. Mostly, though, this kind of newt prefers the land, and they hibernate each year from October to March. Thats half the year! After hibernating on land, the newt will make its way back toward the water for mating season. In the image, you can see that the bottom newt is already prepared for the season. The large, jagged crest on its back gives it away. Male Great Warty Newts develop these crests specifically during mating season. What you cant see in the image though are the colorful undersides of these newts which are likely yellow, orange, or covered with dark spots. No matter their coloring, all Great Warty Newts have one special ability in common: they can regrow parts of their body! So, if they happen to lose an eye, tail, jaw, or leg to a predator, in time, it can regenerate. Thats if a predator can get close quick enough because these newts also secrete a strong-smelling substance to keep them safe and deter predators. Their secretions dont deter people from keeping them as pets, though! As pets, Great Warty Newts can live up to 25 years, which is twice to three times as long as they survive in the wild!
- The image shows a mating pair of Warty Newts showing the male with the famoust crest.
- Publication Date
- 1893
- Image ID
- SIL-SIL-007-503-08
- Catalog ID
- 38674
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Type
- Prints
- Place
- United Kingdom
- Europe
- Asia
- Publication Place
- London
- Publisher
- W. H. Allen & co., limited
- See more items in
- See Wonder
- Taxonomy
- Triturus cristatus
- Smithsonian Libraries
- Topic
- Reptiles
- Language
- English
- Record ID
- silgoi_66637
