eastern newt

LC - Least Concern

N5 - Secure

S4 - Apparently Secure

not listed

Species in Greatest Conservation Need

Eastern newt is a common North American newt. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains. There are four subspecies of eastern newt. Only the western subspecies, central newt, occurs in Minnesota. Its range extends from Minnesota and southwestern Ontario, east to Michigan, south to eastern Texas and Louisiana, and across the south from Alabama east to South Carolina and northern Florida. It is found in or near moist deciduous and coniferous forests; in or near lakes, ponds, swamps, and stream pools with dense submerged vegetation; and in ditches.

Adults are 2½″ to 4⅞″ (6.4 to 12.5 cm) in length. Females are slightly smaller and stockier than males. The tail is flattened vertically, fin-like. Aquatic adults are light olive green above, terrestrial adults are dark olive-brown above. Both forms are light yellow below, with a clear separation between the sharply contrasting colors. The upper and lower surfaces are dotted with small black spots. On the upper part of each side (dorsilateral area) there are sometimes two rows of small, round, red to orange spots that are partially ringed with black. The skin is slightly grainy on terrestrial adults, smooth and mucous covered on aquatic adults. Vertical depressions (costal grooves) on each side between the forelimbs and the ventral area, prominent on salamanders, are indistinct or absent. In breeding season, the male has enlarged hind legs and a broadly ridged (keeled) tail.

Juveniles (red efts) are dull, orangish-red to reddish-brown, and 1⅜″ to 3¼″ (3.5 to 8.6 mm) in length. The skin is dry and granular.

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The description above refers to the subspecies central newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis), the only subspecies that occurs in Minnesota.

Terrestrial juveniles: 1⅜″ to 3¼″ (3.5 to 8.6 mm)

Adults: 2½″ to 4⅞″ (6.4 to 12.5 cm)

Moist deciduous and coniferous forests; lakes, ponds, swamps, stream pools, ditches

Both adults and efts secrete a toxic substance through the skin to repel predators. When threatened, the eft will raise its tail as a warning to predators.

8 to 10 years in the wild

Tadpoles sometimes metamorphose into terrestrial efts, though they often metamorphose directly into terrestrial adults with lungs, and sometimes they retain gills. After three to seven years on land, red efts return to aquatic environments, transform into aquatic adults, and reproduce. After breeding season, aquatic adults may remain aquatic or transform again into terrestrial adults.

Terrestrial adults and efts overwinter under leaves, logs, and rocks. Aquatic adults in deeper lakes may remain active under the ice in winter.

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The description above refers to the subspecies central newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis), the only subspecies that occurs in Minnesota.

Small aquatic insects and other small aquatic invertebrates

Crustaceans, worms, snails, mollusks, amphibian eggs, mosquito larvae, insects, and other small invertebrates

Sources

4, 14, 24, 29, 30, 60, 73, 76, 78.

Common

There is disagreement about the use of the names Caudata and Urodela for the order of salamanders. Some authors use Caudata for the crown group and Urodela for the total group. Currently (2023), most authors use Urodela for the crown group and Caudata for the total group.

There is disagreement about the recognition of subspecies. A study in 2004 rejected all subspecies due to the high level of disagreement about the defining characteristics. A molecular DNA study published in 2013 showed that two of the subspecies could not be decisively separated by molecular data.

Location: Hennepin County