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New Forest Lizard / Newt: |
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marshalld Member Joined: 05 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 3  View other posts by marshalld |
Posted: 05 Apr 2004 Hi, I dont know anything about lizards newts etc. Yesterday, my 4yo son found a lizard/newt under a rotting branch amongst the leaf fall in the middle of an New Forest enclosure (not near rivers/ponds) but probably about 100 yards far from the nearest drainage ditch which usually are sodden if not actually containing standing water. To me the, creature looked extremely lizard like. It was no more than 8cm tall from head to tail tip. The skin was however smooth rather than scaly. The most distinguishing feature (which I though would make identification a doddle) was a thin yellow line running down the back. All the other features were lizard-like - no crests, or tails like the newts I remeber from childhood. It was however extremely easy to catch (playing dead) which made me think it was some kind of one-year old lizard recent emerging from hibernation. Any help much appreciated. Cheers |
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Colin Dunlop Member Joined: 15 Mar 2004 No. of posts: 20 View other posts by Colin Dunlop |
Posted: 05 Apr 2004 Did you notice if the animal had an orange or red belly? here are a couple of links to pictures... http://www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/lrc/graphics/snewt%20underside.jpg http://www.wigry.win.pl/plazy2/traz6.jpg http://www.soshayle2.fsnet.co.uk/Fauna/ReptAmph/Images/002.jpg sounds a bit like a female newt |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 05 Apr 2004 From behaviour, description of skin and habitat I'm sure it was a newt. Female newts do not develop crests, only breeding males, so I'm sure it was a female or immature newt. Just a guess, but I would think it was a Smooth Newt, I have seen a number of females with a very feint yellowy orange stripe. Hopefully someone who is familiar with the New Forest will confirm the species most likely to be found there. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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marshalld Member Joined: 05 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 3 View other posts by marshalld |
Posted: 05 Apr 2004 Thanks for the replies. I will check with my wife about the orange belly as I cant remember. With regard to pictures posted, it looked much more like the 3rd one than the 2nd. The skin appearance and touch i.e. smooth/velety was very much like the 1st picture. I guess that makes it a newt! The yellow line was quite distinctive and well defined - only a mm wide but "Microsoft Emotion" yellow!! |
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calumma Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2003 No. of posts: 351 View other posts by calumma |
Posted: 05 Apr 2004 If the line continues down to the tail it is a palmate newt, if the line disappears along the back it's a smooth. Lee Brady Kent Herpetofauna Recorder | Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 06 Apr 2004 Lee- I've not heard of that method of distinguishing female smooths from palmates before. Is it 100% effective? Can I assume that any adult newt with no stripe or a short stripe is a smooth, and any with a long stripe is a palmate? I'm pretty sure I've seen juvenile smooths with long stripes. |
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marshalld Member Joined: 05 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 3 View other posts by marshalld |
Posted: 06 Apr 2004 Sorry to mislead you a bit - my colour blindness is worse than I thought. Apparently the stripe was more orangy than yellow. The rest of the new was green/black with the exception of an orange underbelly. It felt smooth to the touch - does this make it a Smooth Newt? |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 06 Apr 2004 'It felt smooth to the touch - does this make it a Smooth Newt?' Maybe! We have 3 native species of Newt the UK, Smooth, Palmate and Great Crested. The trouble is Smooth and Palmate females are difficult to tell apart in the field even by those with a lot of experience. They both have smooth soft velvety skin and look almost the same. The Great Crested is a fairly large beasty with warty skin so I'm guessing it wasn't one of those. RAUK ID pages are: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/palmate_newt.htm http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/smooth_newt.htm http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/great_crested_newt.htm I would mention that the picture of the female palmate newt has been questioned by a leading expert in the field, who thought it looked more typical of a Smooth Newt... you see the problem Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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calumma Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2003 No. of posts: 351 View other posts by calumma |
Posted: 06 Apr 2004 Gemma, yes it does look like a female smooth newt. However, these species can look very similar and I would only be confident of identifying small newt female photos by looking at throat patterns. I have several photos that may help here if you would like to add them to the id pages. Lee Brady Kent Herpetofauna Recorder | Independent Ecological Consultant |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 06 Apr 2004 That would be great I couldn't get many good smooth and palmate newt pictures when I did the ID page. It seems like the ID pages graphics might be in for a serious bit of editing with the way that RAUK is eating it's bandwidth allowance anyway! Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
- New Forest Lizard / Newt |
