Newts are salamanders belonging to the Pleurodelinae subfamily. They have four equal limbs and a tail. Although similar to lizards in appearance, they are salamanders instead. Newts have an extraordinary ability to regenerate their lost organs and parts like hearts, intestines, spinal cords, eyes, lower and upper jaws. They are native to North America, North Africa, Asia, and Europe.


    Calotriton or European Brook Newts

    Montseny Brook Newt Pyrenean Newt / Pyrenean Brook Salamander

    Neurergus or Spotted Newts

    Yellow-spotted /
    Lake Urmia Newt
    Kaiser’s spotted /
    Emper or spotted /
    Luristan Newt
    Kurdistan Spotted Newt
    Strauch’s Spotted/Anatolian Newt Subspecies: N. s. strauchi , N. s. barani

    Pleurodeles or Ribbed Newts

    Algerian Ribbed Newt Edough Ribbed /
    Poiret’s Newt
    Iberian Ribbed /
    Spanish Ribbed Newt /

    Cynops or Fire / Fire Belly Newts (Hypselotriton arguably)

    Chenggong Fire Belly / Blue-tailed Fire Belly Newt Blue-tailed Fire Belly Newt / Chuxiong Fire-bellied Japanese Sword-tail Newt
    Fuding Fire Belly Newt Chinese Fire Belly Newt Dayang Fire Belly /
    Dayang Newt
    Japanese Fire Belly Newt Subspecies: Hiroshima race,
    Tamba or Sasayama race, Atsumi race, Kanto race,Touhoku race,
    Intermediate race
    Yunnan Lake / Wolterstorff’s Newt

    Notophthalmus or Eastern / North American Newts

    Black-spotted/Texas Newt Striped Newt
    Red-spotted/Eastern Newt Subspecies: Red-spotted Newt,
    Broken-striped Newt, Central Newt, Peninsula Newt

    Taricha or Pacific / Roughskin / Western Newt

    Red-bellied Newt Sierra Newt
    Rough-skinned/roughskin Newt Subspecies: Rough-skinned Newt,
    Crater Lake / Mazama Newt
    California or Orange-bellied Newt

    Echinotriton or Spiny or Mountain Newts

    Anderson’s / Anderson’s Crocodile / Ryukyu Spiny / Japanese Warty Newt Chinhai Spiny Newt Echinotriton maxiquadratus

    Ommatotriton or Banded Newts

     Ommatotriton nesterovi Northern Banded Newt Southern Banded Newt


    Anatolian Crested Newt Buresh’s or Balkan Crested Newt Persian or Southern Newt
    Alpine crested /
    Italian Newt
    Great Crested /
    Northern Crested /
    Warty Newt
    Danube /
    Danube Crested Newt
    Macedonian Crested Newt Marbled Newt Pygmy Marbled /
    Southern Newt


    Alpine Newt

    Pachytriton or Chinese or Paddle – tail Newts

    Pachytriton archospotus Spotted Paddle-tail Newt Pachytriton changi
    Pachytriton feii Pachytriton granulosus Yaoshan Stout /
    Paddletail Newt
    Pachytriton moi Pachytriton wuguanfui Pachytriton xanthospilos

    Tylototriton or Knobby / Crocodile Newts

    Angular-headed Newt Black Knobby Newt Tylototriton broadoridgus
    Tylototriton dabienicus Hainan Knobby Newt Tylototriton himalayanus
    Kweichow/ Red-tailed Knobby Newt Ywangan Crocodile Newt Laos Knobby Newt
    Tylototriton Panhai Southern Sichuan Crocodile Newt Tylototriton shanorum
    Mandarin /Emperor Newt / Mandarin Salamaner Taliang Knobby Newt Chiang Mai Crocodile Newt
    Himalayan Newt Vietnamese Knobby / Vietnamese Crocodile Newt Wenxian Knobby
    Salamander / Newt
    Tiannan Crocodile Newt Ziegler’s Crocodile Newt


    Boscá’s/ Iberian Newt Greek Newt  
    Palmate Newt Subspecies: L. h. helveticus,
    L. h. punctillatus, L. h. alonsoi
    Italian Newt Lissotriton kosswigi Caucasian Smooth Newt
    Lissotriton maltzani Southern Smooth Newt Carpathian /
    Montadon’s Newt
    Smooth / Common Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris)
    Subspecies L. v. vulgaris

    Paramesotriton  or  Asian Warty / Warty Newts

    Paramesotriton aurantius Spot-tailed Warty Newt Chinese Warty Newt
    Tam Dao / Vietnamese Salamander Wanggao Warty Newt Guangxi Warty Newt
    Hong Kong Warty /
    Hong Kong Newt
    Unterstein’s / Spotless Snout /
    Spotless Smooth Warty / Paddletail / Zhao Ermi’s
    Smooth Warty Newt
    Paramesotriton longliensis
    Paramesotriton maolanensis Paramesotriton qixilingensis Paramesotriton wulingensis
    Yunwu Warty Newt Zhijin Warty Newt  

    Euproctus or European Mountain Salamanders

    Corsican Brook Salamander / Corsican Mountain Newt Sardinian Mountain Newt / Sardinian Brook Salamander  

    Habitat: Where Do Newts Live

    Newts live in humid lands with rocks, logs, and holes
    nearby. Since they become aquatic during reproduction, some species prefer to
    stay in slow-moving streams, otherwise pond, mountain streams, even flooded
    meadows, marshes, and lakes are good for them.

    Newt Picture

    Diet: What Do They Eat

    During their life on land, adult newts consume small
    invertebrates, eggs of amphibians, worms, slugs, and insects while in the water they
    usually have aquatic insect larvae, shrimps, and tadpoles. Baby newts or larvae
    prefer aquatic insect larvae and tiny shrimps.

    Reproduction and Lifecycle

    The breeding season mostly start from June and last up to
    July. Male newts deposit their sperm pouch known as spermatophore on some
    floating objects like leaves in the water. Then
    through some courtship periods, (the style defers from one species to another)
    the male lures the female to accept the sperm pouch inside their cloaca (an
    internal part leading directly to urinary, intestinal, and reproductive tracts).
    Some species use their pheromones for attracting potential mates.

    Post mating, female newts lay hundreds of eggs and then find
    aquatic plants to attach the eggs with. The eggs have a gel-like exterior.
    Sometimes, female newts coil themselves around the eggs for protecting them.

    A few newt species are known to have an initial tadpole
    phase, where they live as an aquatic species with gills and a fish-like
    tail. Some of them remain aquatic
    throughout their juvenile phase.

    Following the tadpole phase, a few species go through
    the eft phase. This is where they become terrestrial larvae. Some species which
    are aquatic while they are inside the eggs and during the adulthood, might be terrestrial for this phase only.

    Most adult newts with their legs and tails are flexible in
    land and water at the same time.

    Baby Newt

    Are They Poisonous

    Some newts are known to produce toxins to defend themselves
    from predators. For humans, newts are poisonous if ingested. Although some newts are popularly kept as pets, thoroughly washing of hands after
    handling them is recommended as they carry salmonella bacteria.

    Threats and Predators

    Fishes, herons, snakes, foxes, prey on newts. Frogs and
    fishes eat newt eggs as well.

    Newt Lizard

    Interesting Facts

    • Japanese fire belly newt can reproduce their
      lens eighteen times, within a span of sixteen years.
    • Yunnan lake newt has recently gone extinct.
    • The name newt is believed to have come as a result
      of a dialectical difference of the word eft.
    • In historical literature, newts are called Tritones,
      so are in Greek, Romanian, and Russian language.
    • Newts cannot hear, neither can they produce any
    • Japanese fire belly newts, paddletail newts, Chinese
      warty newts, and eastern newts are popular pet options.

    Danube Crested Newt
    California Newt
    Rough Skinned Newt
    Eastern Newt
    Red Spotted Newt
    Common Newt
    Italian Crested Newt
    Hong Kong Newt
    Blue Tailed Fire Belly Newt
    Chinese Warty Newt
    Palmate Newt
    Black Spotted Newt
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