AMPHIBIANS 





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Figs. 288. — Spotted newt, Tritunis viridescens, 

 in breeding season: i, male showing tail-fin, swollen 

 cloaca {c), and black ridges on inner surface of 

 the hind legs {d); 2, female which has a generally 

 slender form. 



Tritunis viridescens, one of the commonest salamanders in 

 the eastern states. (PI. XIX.) 



Adult Tritiirus, the "spotted newts" or "vermilion 

 .spotted newts, " live in ponds, and in quiet stretches of mean- 

 dering streams. The upper surfaces of their bodies are 

 reddish or olive or dark green and the underparts are lemon 

 yellow covered with fine black dots, and along each side of the 

 back there is a row of scarlet dots ringed with black. The 

 male has a swollen cloaca, stocky hind legs, much stouter 

 than the front ones, and their inner surfaces are covered with 

 thick black ridges of skin during the breeding and mating 

 seasons (Fig. 288, i). The cloaca and tail fin become especial- 

 ly conspicuous during these times. The females have del- 

 icately molded legs, the hind ones nearly the same as the 

 front ones and without the blackened skin folds (Fig. 288). 



Habits, habitat. — Young "red newts" wander about the 

 woodland near their home waters, moving hesitantly in and 

 out among the dead leaves. A red newt peering from the 

 curve of a dried oak leaf is the picture of alert shyness. On 

 foggy or rainy days they come out of their hiding places to 

 forage for insects or whatever small animals they can find. 

 Some of them are brick red, others are orange colored, but, 

 like the adults, all have a single row of scarlet black-bordered 

 dots on each side of their backs. 



355 



