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Alpine newt facts for kids

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Alpine newt
Mesotriton aplestris side view chrischan.jpeg
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Triturus
Binomial name
Triturus alpestris

The alpine newt (Triturus alpestris) is a type of amphibian. It is a Salamander, which is a group of amphibians with tails. The alpine newt is one of five different newt species found in Germany.

About the Alpine Newt

What They Look Like

Triturus alpestris 2
Young Alpine Newt

When it's time to mate early in the year, male alpine newts get a cool blue color on their sides. This blue doesn't cover their white-and-black spotted flanks. Their bellies turn a bright orange. Female newts are usually more camouflaged. They have a mottled brown color with black spots that are hard to see. This helps them blend in with their marshy homes.

The largest males can grow up to nine centimeters long. Females can be even bigger, reaching up to twelve centimeters. After the mating season, both males and females return to their usual mottled brown color.

Alpine Newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) hibernating in dead wood (13537518605)
Alpine Newt hibernating in dead wood
Ichthyosaura alpestris (Alpine newt), Mook, the Netherlands
Alpine newt, the Netherlands

Where They Live and What They Do

Alpine newts usually live in forests that have plenty of water. They prefer hilly or mountainous areas. You won't often find them in places without many trees. They love thick forests with deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves). They can also be found in natural gardens that have ponds.

When it's not the season for laying eggs, the alpine newt lives on land. During the day, it hides in plants and other ground cover. But during the mating season, they move into cool water, like forest ponds or even artificial pools. After they wake up from their winter sleep, adult newts go straight to these pools to lay their eggs.

Where You Can Find Them

Alpine newts mostly live in Central Europe. You can also find them in some mountainous parts of Southern Europe. There's also a small, separate group living on the Iberian Peninsula.

Some wild groups have also been introduced to the UK.

Are They in Danger?

Alpine newt's in its habitat (Ichthyosaura alpestris)
Alpine newt in its habitat

The number of alpine newts dropped a lot in the 1960s and 1970s. But since then, their numbers have started to recover a bit. Studies near Cologne (which is about 50 meters above sea level) showed more alpine newts overall. However, the number of newts in their breeding pools seemed to go down.

In home gardens, newts sometimes settle in ponds. They can have many babies in these ponds. But if fish are in the same pond, the newt population might disappear completely. For example, a small pond of 150 liters had over 60 alpine newt tadpoles in July 2003. These were likely all from just one female newt!

Images for kids

See Also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tritón alpino para niños

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