The
Newt is an
amphibian of the
Salamandridae family, order
Urodela or
Caudata, found in
North America,
Europe, and
Asia. Their eggs are laid singly in
ponds or slow-moving streams, attached to aquatic plants. This distinguishes them from the free-floating eggs of frogs, that are laid in clumps, or toads, that are laid in strings. The larvae leave the water as a terrestrial form called an
eft, returning to the water when mature to live or to breed. The adult form has a lizard-like body and is either aquatic or semi-aquatic.
The oldest form of the name is eft, which is still used for newly metamorphosed juveniles, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary it changed for unknown reasons first to euft and then to ewt. For some time it remained as an ewt, but the "n" from the indefinite article an shifted to form a newt.
The three common European genera are the crested newts (Triturus sp.), the smooth newts and palmate newts (Lissotriton sp.) and the banded newts (Ommatotriton sp.). Other species present in Europe are the Iberian ribbed newt (Plurodeles waltl), which is the largest of the European newts,[1] the pyrenean brook newt (Calotriton sp.); the European brook newt (Euproctus sp.) and the Alpine newt (Mesotriton alpestris).[2][3]
In North America, there are the Eastern newts (Notophthalmus sp.), of which the red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is the most abundant species, but it is limited to the area east of the Rocky Mountains. The three species of coastal or Western newts are the red-bellied newt, the California newt, and the rough-skinned newt, all of which belong to the genus Taricha, which is confined to the area west of the Rockies.[citation needed]
