Male Triturus montandoni. Photo by R. Griffiths.
Female Triturus montandoni. Photo by R. Griffiths.
Mating behaviour: male shown in black, female in white. From Arntzen & Sparreboom (1989).
DESCRIPTION
Montandon's newt is found only in the Carpathian, Oder and Tatras mountains in eastern Europe. The total length of adults of this species is around 10 cm. The belly of both sexes is yellow to orange, and is usually unspotted, as is the throat, which is usually paler. The ground colour of the body is olive or brown, with some dark spotting. Some individuals may also have subtle marbling on the back. Breeding males have a short tail filament, and slight dorsolateral ridges. They also have a low, straight-edged crest.
Although the distribution of T. montandoni overlaps with that of the smooth newt, their habitat preferences are different. Some sites may support both species, and there may be a high rate of hybridization (about 60%) at these sites (Gillett, 1990).
SUBSPECIES
No subspecies have been described.
REFERENCES
Arntzen, J. W. & Sparreboom, M., 1989. A phylogeny for the Old World newts, genus Triturus: biochemical and behavioural data. Journal of Zoology 219: 645-664. [ABSTRACT]
Gillett, L., 1990. The Reptiles and Amphibians of Poland. British Herpetological Society Bulletin 31: 36-38
