Smooth Newt

Fascinating facts about the Smooth Newt

• During the breeding season, male Smooth Newts grow a vibrant crest on their back, which is up to 1.5 cm high, and use it to attract females in a complex courtship display that can last up to 10 hours, involving a mix of visual and chemical signals.
• Smooth Newts can produce a toxic secretion from their skin, containing a bufotoxin that deters predators, and they can even increase the amount of toxin released when threatened, with some individuals releasing up to 200 milligrams of the substance per kilogram of body weight.
• Adult Smooth Newts spend around 6 months on land, hiding under logs or in burrows, and the remaining 6 months in water, with some individuals migrating up to 500 metres between their breeding and wintering sites, crossing roads, fields, and forests in the process.
• In the wild, Smooth Newts can live up to 10 years, which is unusually long for an amphibian of their size, with some individuals growing up to 10 cm in length and weighing up to 10 grams, making them one of the larger newt species in Europe.
• Smooth Newts have a unique life cycle, with larvae transforming into terrestrial juveniles, called efts, which then live on land for 1-3 years before returning to water and transforming into adults, a process that involves the resorption of their gills and the development of their adult skin and organs, allowing them to thrive in a wide range of aquatic environments.

At a glance

About the Smooth Newt

As the sun dips below the horizon, the smooth newt emerges from its subterranean slumber, its slender form undulating through the damp undergrowth with a quiet, almost ethereal elegance. With eyes like polished onyx, it navigates the twilight world, its mottled skin blending seamlessly into the dappled shadows as it quests for the tiny invertebrates that sustain it. In this mystical realm of moonlit ponds and whispering reeds, the smooth newt reigns as a humble, yet captivating, monarch of the nocturnal landscape.

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