Most of the reports presented here in PDF format were written under the supervision of the department of Animal Ecology at the Catholic University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. These are published on the Podarcis website (www.podarcis.nl) with the permission of the former department head, Dr. Henk Strijbosch and of Dr. J. van Gelder. The original hard-copy of these papers are stored in the care of the study group RAVON (Reptielen-, Amfibieën-, Vissenonderzoek Nederland) (www.ravon.nl). This organisation also issued the authorization to the Podarcis Foundation to present these publications on our website. An attempt was made to locate the current whereabouts of all the authors of these papers to obtain their permission but in some cases this was not possible. If any of the authors would rather not see the fruits of their labours on our site, they should contact us directly and the report will be promptly removed.
Publication dates for the reports are not always clearly stated in the papers. Many of the reports mention the period in which the (field) work was done, but sometimes not the exact publication date. In such cases, the work dates were used.
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Over 300 reports appeared under the guidance of Animal Ecology of Nijmegen University. We have chosen to present a selection that concentrates on those that present summaries and research results that have not or have barely appeared in the literature. Reports will be continually added, so check regularly (we do have to convert them into PDF format…).
We welcome all suggestions and are always happy to add other useful or informative
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Triturus h. helveticus (Palmate newt)
Prefers slow running, clear streams in mountaineous area up to 850 m. alt. In spawning time: are light or dark green speckled and often marbled with dark green. Sometimes they have dorsolateral line. Belly pale orange, yellow or gold, sparsely spotted or speckled with brown. Female has back like male, but belly has fewer spots. Out of spawning time colours are less pronounced. Back of and becomes darker with a red or yellow vertebral stripe.
Tail of is more or less transparant, while breeding the tail is continued backwards as a black filament, which can grow to 708 mm. The tip of the tail of and is black coloured and abruptly, sometimes heartformed, truncated. The sides of the tail show two rows of blackgreen dots. The head has black longitudinal lines, one of which goes through the eye or starts just behind it. The head is wide with pronounced jaws and behind the eyes there is a narrow neck. The top of the head bears three longitudinal grooves, especially . The head is squared. The iris of the eye is black and golden. The throat is immaculated, sometimes with some small speckles. The distance between the eyes is a little larger than the breadth of the upper eyelids. Mostly with collar. The front limbs are spotted and the hind feet black. Breeding male has a considerably lower crest than smooth newt.
In spawning time male has more or less webbed toes of the hind feet. The skin is smooth. Transverse section of breeding is more or less quadrangular in shape. Mean length << . Fronto-squamosal arch is fully developed. Palate teeth divergate backwards. |
Triturus v. vulgaris (Smooth newt)
Prefers stagnant water.
The breeding male is light or dark olive green or black. Speckles sometimes forming longitudinal streaks. On the flancks large, rounded spots. Belly orange, red or yellow. Paler on the sides and on the throat. lighter coloured than , sometimes yellowish or loam coloured. Back of sometimes speckled with dark brown, sometimes with 2 dorsolateral lines, belly mostly paler than , coloured with small dots. Orange stripe on belly goes over cloaca and tail. After spawning colours become paler. Tail of is silverstriped and is margined below with the same colour as the belly. The tip of the tail is black. In breeding time the lower part of the tail is mother of pearl-coloured with black dots. After breeding the underside of the tail becomes red. The female tail often shows a marginal line of dots, sometimes forming a stripe. The tail is laterally flattened, but round near the base. has 5 longitudinal lines on the head. The middle one often disappearsand the outer ones go through the eyes. has only the line through the eyes. The head is narrow, widest near the eyes, but not clearly narrowed behind. Three grooves on the head, but not very clear.
Idem. The pale throat is black spotted, sometimes lightly speckled. Distance between the eyes about two times the breadth of the upper eyelids. Without collar.
Breeding male has a high, voluminous undulating crest, commencing on the head and continued without interrupting to the tip of the tail. The lower margin of the tail bears a similar, but less voluminous crest. No webs but fringed toes.
Skin smooth or roughish. Transverse section more or less round.
Mean length >> . Fronto-squamosal arch is partly replaced by a ligament. Palate teeth hardly divergate backwards. |
Download 022-triturus-identificatie.pdf (0.5 MB)