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Great Crested Newt — printable fact sheet
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Great Crested Newt
Triturus cristatus
Triturus cristatus is Europe's largest newt at up to 17 cm, and in the breeding season the male grows a jagged, sail-like dorsal crest and a white or silver flash along the tail that he wobbles in front of a female while fanning pheromones toward her with his tail. There is no a…
Did you know?
- Great Crested Newts are protected under both UK and European law, making it illegal to disturb or harm them or their habitats.
- The 50 percent embryonic death rate comes from a balanced lethal system on chromosome 1 that has persisted for millions of years across the whole Triturus genus. Great crested newts spend most of the year on land, foraging at night up to several hundred metres from their pond, and only return to water to breed. Individual newts can be identified for life from their belly patterns - an irregular black-on-orange marbling as unique as a fingerprint.
What I learned
Draw the great crested newt
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