CLASSIFICATION OF TRITURUS CRISTATUS : CRESTED NEWT
PHYLUM :- CHORDATA (Notochord, dorsal tubular nerve cord present and gill slits present )
Group :- CRANIATA ( Definite head. Cranium with brain present )
Sub-phylum :- VERTEBRATA ( vertebral column present)
Division :- GNATHOSTOMATA ( Jaws and paired appendages present )
Super class :- TETRAPODA ( Paired limbs, lungs, bony skeleton and cornified skin)
Class :- AMPHIBIA ( Scaleless glandular skin , have 3 chambered heart , cold blooded, 2 occipital condyles, can live in water and land both )
Order :- URODELA OR CAUDATA ( Scaleless Amphibia having well developed tail, generally with two limbs, with or without external gills and gill-slits in adults).
Genus :- Triturus
Species :- cristatus
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Triturus cristatus found from Great Britain through most of continental Europe to westernmost Siberia, Anatolia, and the Caspian Sea region.
HABIT AND HABITAT
Triturus cristatus lives in coniferous, mixed and deciduous forests, their glades and edges, in bushlands, meadows, parks and gardens. In southern areas, populations of this newt live in insular forests and in the landscapes of dense vegetation of flooded valleys.
GENERAL CHARACTERSTICS OF TRITURUS CRISTATUS : CRESTED NEWT
- Triturus cristatus is commonly called as European Crested Newt.
- Body is elongated and cylindrical and divided into head, trunk and their tail..
- Skin is soft and slimy without scales.
- Head is conical and compressed containing wide mouth and small nostrils. Eyes are small with upper and lower eyelids. Tympanum and eardrum absent.
- Tail is elongated, thick and provided with dorsal and ventral fins without fin rays.
- Forelimbs and hind limbs are well developed. The former bear four, and the latter five fingers. Girdles and sternum primitive. Vertebrae opisthocoelous.
- Gills are absent, respiration by skin and lungs.
- Alimentary canal, excretory duct and gonadal ducts open into the cloaca.
- Male cloaca swollen and dark; tail with lateral longitudinal blue-white band.
- It exhibits marked sexual dimorphism. Male develops crest on the back and becomes brilliantly coloured in breeding season. Larval stage is provided with three pairs of gills which are lost in the adult.
- Dorsal and lateral surfaces black or brownish-black with dark spots; numerous white points on body flanks. Throat black (sometimes yellowish) with white points. Belly yellow to orange with black, usually unfused spots.
- Reproduction occurs in stagnant and, rarely, in semi-flowing waters such as ponds, flooded quarries, lakes, irrigation channels and ditches.
- Males court females with a ritualised display, ending in the deposition of a spermatophore that is picked up by the female. After fertilisation, a female lays 200–400 eggs, folding them individually into leaves of water plants. Larvae develop over two to four months before metamorphosing into land-dwelling juveniles.
Identification
- this urodele has thick tail and crest in male and above features hence it is Triturus cristatus.
REFERENCES
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triturus
- https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/pond-clinic/identifying-creatures-pond/great-crested-newt-triturus cristatus /
- Book of Practical Zoology VERTEBRATE by S.S.LAL – Rastogi Publications.
- https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Triturus_cristatus/classification/
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNorthern_crested_newt&psig=AOvVaw24RURCa5FzYC5iq9RRQ-Ta&ust=1602680678304000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjl2LX10LHsAhXAEbcAHTozC9AQr4kDegUIARCuAQ
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freenatureimages.eu%2FAnimals%2FAmphibia%252C%2520Amfibieen%252C%2520Amphibians%2FTriturus%2520cristatus%252C%2520Warty%2520Newt%2Findex.html&psig=AOvVaw24RURCa5FzYC5iq9RRQ-Ta&ust=1602680678304000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjl2LX10LHsAhXAEbcAHTozC9AQr4kDegUIARDGAQ
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.monaconatureencyclopedia.com%2Ftriturus-cristatus%2F%3Flang%3Den&psig=AOvVaw24RURCa5FzYC5iq9RRQ-Ta&ust=1602680678304000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjl2LX10LHsAhXAEbcAHTozC9AQr4kDegUIARC5AQ
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