The Carpathian newt, or Montandon’s newt, (''Lissotriton montandoni'') is a species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

in the family

Salamandridae Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is v ...

found in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The total length of adults of this species is around 10 cm. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s, intermittent rivers, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes,

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

, pastureland, rural gardens, and

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

The Carpathian newt grows to a total length of about , females in general being larger than males. The skin is granulated in terrestrial individuals but smoother in more aquatic ones. There are three grooves on the head and the body is very square in cross section. The upper surface is yellowish-brown or olive-brown, copiously mottled with fine dark spots. The underparts are yellow or orange, often with small black spots at the sides. The lower part of the tail is white or orange with large black spots. In the breeding season, males have a slight crest on the tail and a filament on the tip, but only a slightly-raised ridge along the back.

Distribution and habitat

The Carpathian newt is native to the eastern part of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

and the eastern part of the Sudetes Mountains where it is found at altitudes of up to about above sea level. It has been introduced into the

Bavarian Forest The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is con ...

in Germany. Where their ranges overlap, it often hybridises with the smooth newt (''Lissotriton vulgaris''), the offspring being intermediate in appearance between the two species. The Carpathian newt prefers wet, shady woodland, both coniferous and broadleaf, glades, woodland edges and

upland pastures Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

. It is able to adapt to some extent to degraded habitats, and it breeds in permanent and temporary bodies of water.

Behaviour

The Carpathian newt often lives near the places where it breeds, hiding under fallen trees, rocks and loose bark. Breeding starts in the spring and the female lays up to 250 eggs during the year. The chosen sites are ponds, pools, ditches, water-filled wheel ruts, marshes and the edges of lakes. Dark, cold acid water is preferred but polluted water is sometimes used. The eggs hatch in one to four weeks according to temperature, and metamorphosis may occur at twelve weeks, but at higher altitudes, the tadpoles may overwinter. Sexual maturity is reached at about three years.

Status

Although the total population of the Carpathian newt is probably declining, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

" in view of its wide range, presumed large total population and tolerance to variations to its habitat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q943344 montandoni Amphibians described in 1860 Amphibians of Europe Fauna of Ukraine Taxonomy articles created by Polbot