Great crested newts are Britain’s largest newt species. Although now afforded some legal protection in the UK, populations have declined over recent years as a result of the destruction and fragmentation of their habitat.

Subspecies
Until recently it was thought there were four subspecies of the great crested newt, but these are now considered to be separate species. These species are very similar in appearance, although T.cristatus is the only one with warty skin (the others having either smooth or granular skin). T.carnifex: Italian crested newt; T.karelinii: Southern or Turkish crested newt; T.dobrogicus: Danube crested newt; T.cristatus: Northern (or great) crested newt.

Life span
It is possible for them to reach an age of 27 years.

Statistics
In the UK, great crested newts may grow up to 17cm long (body and tail). They are the largest species of newt found in Britain.

Physical description
Great crested newts have dark grey-brown backs and flanks, and are covered with darker coloured spots so that they appear almost black in colour. They also have fine white spots on their lower flanks, which are more obvious in breeding males. Their undersides are either yellow or orange-coloured and are covered in large black blotches. Males can be distinguished from females by the presence of a jagged crest that runs along their backs, dipping at the rear of the abdomen to a smoother-edged crest above and below the tail. They also have a silver-grey stripe that runs along the tail. The male’s crest is more pronounced during the breeding season, and lies flat to the body when the newt is out of water. Females lack a crest, but have a yellow-orange stripe along the lower edge of their tails.

Distribution
Great crested newts are widespread, but extremely local, in mainland Britain. They are not found in Ireland. They can also be found across northern Europe, from France in the west, to the Urals in the east.

Habitat
Great crested newts spend most of the year around weedy ponds and small lakes, although they can also be found in dew-ponds, quite far away from other bodies of water.

Diet
Larval newts usually feed on tadpoles, worms, insects and insect larvae. Adults hunt in ponds for other newts, tadpoles, young froglets, worms, insect larvae and water snails. They also hunt on land for insects, worms and other invertebrates.

Behaviour
Great crested newts are nocturnal, hiding on land during the day in burrows or under logs, stones and vegetation. They hibernate between October and late February, usually on land under piles of leaves or logs, or inside hollow tree stumps and stone walls, although some may hibernate in the mud of a pond bed. When newts come out of hibernation they head for their breeding sites, spending the days in deeper water and moving into the shallows at night to breed. Newts have been found to return annually to the same breeding grounds, although colonisation of new sites is thought to occur through the dispersion of newly mature adults.

Reproduction
After performing a courtship display, the male great crested newt deposits a spermataphore (a small packet of sperm) in the path of the female. He then moves sideways in front of the female to gently encourage and move her into a position where the spermataphore will be pressed against, and picked up by, her cloaca (reproductive and kidney opening). The female lays two or three eggs a day between March and mid July, until 200-300 eggs have been laid. The eggs are laid on submerged aquatic plants, and carefully wrapped in leaves. The larvae hatch after about 3 weeks and metamorphose into air breathing juveniles about 4 months later. Great crested newts become sexually mature adults between two and three years of age.

Conservation status
Great crested newts have declined within the UK over recent years, due to the destruction and pollution of their breeding sites and terrestrial habitat. They are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Habitat Regulations Act of 1994. It is illegal to catch, possess or handle great crested newts without a licence and it is also illegal to cause them harm or death, or to disturb their habitat in any way. The IUCN Red List categorises the species as ‘lower risk’.

Notes
All of the newt species found in the UK are members of the Triturus genus, and they are sometimes known as tritons.

Records
They are the largest British newt.