The alpine newt is a species of newt native to continental Europe and introduced to Great Britain and New Zealand. Adults measure 7–12 cm and are usually dark grey to blue on the back and sides, with an orange belly and throat. Alpine newt populations have separated since the Early Miocene, around 20 million years ago. It is thought to be the most common newt species in Europe and is the only one in North America.
About Alpine newt in brief
The alpine newt is a species of newt native to continental Europe and introduced to Great Britain and New Zealand. Adults measure 7–12 cm and are usually dark grey to blue on the back and sides, with an orange belly and throat. At least four subspecies are distinguished, and some argue there are several distinct, cryptic species. Alpine newt populations have separated since the Early Miocene, around 20 million years ago. Although still relatively common and classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, alpinenewt populations are decreasing and have locally gone extinct. The main threats are habitat destruction, pollution and the introduction of fish such as trout into a breeding site. The aquatic larvae grow up to 5 cm in around three months before metamorphosing into terrestrial juvenile efts, which mature into adults at around three years. In the southern range, the newts sometimes do not metamorphose but keep their gills and stay aquatic as paedomorphic adults. Larvae and adults feed mainly on diverse invertebrates and themselves fall prey to dragonfly larvae, large beetles, fish, snakes, birds or mammals. An older fossil from Miocene Germany, Ichthyosaura randeckensis, may be sister species of the alpineNewt. Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that western and eastern newts split into a group which in part contains two major lineages. These ancient genetic differences suggest that the al pine newt may be a complex of several distinct species.
Higher temperatures during the Miocene or sea level oscillations may have allopatrications leading to early populations, leading to alloprication. The alpine Newt is more distinct than that of other ancient populations and may have been inherited from a more ancient population that is now extinct. It is now more distinct from all other populations that are now extinct than it was more than 100 years ago, when it was discovered that it is more than twice as old as the other species. It was first described in 1768 by Austrian zoologist Laurenti, as Triton alpestris, from the Ötscher mountain in the Austrian Alps. He used that name for a female and described the male and the larva as different species. Later, the alpin newt was placed in the genus Triturus along with most other European newts. It therefore has priority over Mesotriton and is now the valid genus name. The name IchthyOSaura had already been introduced in 1801 by Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille for \”Proteus tritonius\”, the Larva of theAlpine newT. It has been named after a nymph-like creature in classical mythology. It is thought to be the most common newt species in Europe and is the only one in North America. It can be found in the Alps, the Adriatic and the Adirondacks.
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This page is based on the article Alpine newt published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 10, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
