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Rate of neoteny in smooth newts?: |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448  View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 10 Mar 2003 I've been intrigued for a while by the rate of neoteny in smooth newts that I've seen. I used to regularly observe newts at a number of ponds in Cambridgeshire, and saw neotenous smooth newts occasionally in about half of these ponds. The vast majority of these were females, I only saw a neotenous male twice. My father also told me recently that he used to catch 'loads' of neotenous newts in ponds near Cambridge in the 1960s. I now live in a more palmate-friendly area, don't see as many smooth newts in general, and have never seen a neotenous newt here. I wonder whether the Cambridgeshire area is more conducive to the development of neoteny, whether the populations there carry genes for neoteny, or whether large smooth newt populations elsewhere have a similar rate of neoteny? Has anyone else found 'hotspots' for neoteny, or seen neotenous smooth newts in other parts of the country? |
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Martin Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 87 View other posts by Martin |
Posted: 10 Mar 2003 I saw one once in Suffolk nearly 30 years ago! I only realised what it was some years later though. |
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Gemma Fairchild Krag Committee Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 193 View other posts by Gemma Fairchild |
Posted: 10 Mar 2003 I had a pair of Smooth Newts that bred in captivity in the mid 1980Ęs. Half the larva were kept in an aquarium, half went to a small garden pond, again in Suffolk (The adults originated from a large population in a natural dew pond about ¢ a mile away). Those in the aquarium developed normally and metamorphosed in mid August. ----RAUK e-Forum---- 
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Martin Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 87 View other posts by Martin |
Posted: 10 Mar 2003 Why move on when the going's good? |
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David Bird Forum Specialist Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 515 View other posts by David Bird |
Posted: 11 Mar 2003 What type of ponds were these neotenous newts found in ? I remember having several ponds on an industrial site that was previously an army camp just west of Taunton, Somerset. It had brick lined emergency water supplies for fire fighting which were about 4 metres deep and walls about 1 metre above the ground so were probably only topped up by rain water and not that easy to climb out of. The species involved were Smooth Newts but these soon lost all gills when put into normal tap water so was probably due to the lack of vital minerals in the pond water. I visited a similar pond where I had been informed that neotenic Great Crested Newts had been seen but this pond had several new looking holes in the brick wall and only a few normal specimens were seen. This was in S.E.Somerset on an old Quarry site that had been infilled with domestic refuse and leachate was being sprayed into the air close by and probably containing all sorts of nutrients and other chemicals. I then found specimens of neotenic Palmate Newts in a pond, possibly a dew pond, on the top of a chalk hill in central Dorset. The field was ploughed and was used for growing cereal each year, there was just a band of marginal plants around the pond a few feet wide so very little suitable terrestrial amphibian habitat. British Herpetological Society Librarian and member of B.H.S Conservation Committee. Self employed Herpetological Consultant and Field Worker. |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 12 Mar 2003 I saw neotenous newts in a large clay pit, a disused brick sheep dip, a horse-watering pond in rough pasture (I described this one in BHS Bulletin 31), and a concrete fire pond.
All of these ponds had plenty of non-neotenous newts in as well. The concrete fire pond was a 'typical' neotenous newt site: vertical sides, deep water, surrounded by unsuitable habitat (concrete airstrip, intensive arable crops). The sheep dip had vertical brick on three sides, and a gentle slope on the other side. I once saw juvenile newts climbing up the brick walls (about 1.5m high) rather than leaving by the slope. The clay pit and horse pond were not steep sided, and had plenty of terrestrial habitat around them. The horse pond and sheep dip dried out completely during several summers in the early 90s, and I've not seen neotenous newts there since. As for neotenous smooth newts losing their gills in tap water- I have never been able to keep a smooth newt neotenous for more than a few weeks. |
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stumpy-polecat Member Joined: 04 Feb 2004 No. of posts: 4  View other posts by stumpy-polecat |
Posted: 04 Feb 2004 hi can anyone help me I have found a smooth newt and I hear they are supose to hibanate but I found one in the mud when my dad was digging it up for something I have in indoors and I dont know how to keep it. I dont want to let it go coz there are herens around and I dont want her ate I dont have a pond. could someone please email me asap to tell me how to keep her. Thankyou |
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stumpy-polecat Member Joined: 04 Feb 2004 No. of posts: 4 View other posts by stumpy-polecat |
Posted: 04 Feb 2004 PS MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS fraek@mail.com  |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 05 Feb 2004 Smooth newts are easy to keep in captivity, they are very undemanding, and will eat most live bugs that are small enough to get in their mouths. An aquarium with lots of damp moss is just the thing. However! This little newt has already survived the winter in hibernation, the warmer weather we are now having, will wake up the newts and they will start to make their way to ponds all over the UK in the next month or so. I suspect your newt will have a stong erge to find a pond and breed now, best let him on his way. All newts have to take their chances with predators such as herons, with luck, he will find his own pond, breed and make the next generation of newts! As you have newts in your garden, perhaps adding a small pond would let you watch them arrive naturally every spring Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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stumpy-polecat Member Joined: 04 Feb 2004 No. of posts: 4 View other posts by stumpy-polecat |
Posted: 05 Feb 2004 I have grown to really like this newt and I am not alowed a pond in the garden. (I have been wanting a pond for years). Would it be possible to keep her and find her a mate breed them and then keep a pair of babys and let her go? Where could I get captive bred newts?  |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 06 Feb 2004 It is possible to breed them at home if you find a mate, they will need an aquarium about 1 ft by 2 ft half filled with water and some rocks as a land area. Watching the courtship displays is very interesting! You will also have to add some live aquatic plants with thin leaves, the female will use these to lay her eggs, wrapping each egg individually in a leaf. (strips of thin plastic from a cut up carrier bag tied into a clump work also) Babies can be fed on tubifex and daphnia available from an aquarium shop, start off with a little pond water at first to provide microscopic food for the hatchling newts. You will also need to remove the adults once the eggs are laid, they may eat the babies otherwise. The main problem is feeding the very young newts when they metamorphose, be sure you can find a supply of very tiny bugs before you decide to go ahead. I still think it's a lot more fun to watch native newts in the wild though! Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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stumpy-polecat Member Joined: 04 Feb 2004 No. of posts: 4 View other posts by stumpy-polecat |
Posted: 06 Feb 2004 Where could I find a male newt? It was only by chance that I found her. Can you get them from pet shops? if yes what type of pet shop? would those tiny red worms be small enouth, not blood worms the ones that are smaller than them? I would watch them in the wild but I dont have a pond or know any1 with a pond. |
- Rate of neoteny in smooth newts? |