2662 NEWTS, SALAMANDERS, AND CCECILIANS 



crested newt, the skull differs from that of the salamanders by the presence of a 

 ligamentous or bony arch connecting the frontal with the squamosal bone; and the 

 palatine teeth form two nearly straight or slightly -curved series. The tongue is 

 free along the sides, but may be either attached or more or less free behind. The 

 genus may be divided into two main groups, according to the presence or absence 

 of a crest down the middle of the back of the males; and each of these may be 

 further subdivided according to the characteristics of the so-called fronto-squamosal 

 arch. 



Belonging to the group in which the males are provided with a dor- 

 sal crest, this species (M. cristata} differs from all the others in the 

 absence of a fronto-squamosal arch to the skull; while it is further characterized by 

 the serration of the crest, and the orange and black-spotted coloration of the under 

 parts. The total length varies from five to five and three-fourths inches, and the 

 toes of both limbs are free. The color of the upper parts is brown, blackish, or 

 olive, with more or less distinct black spots; the sides are spotted with white; and 

 the under parts orange, with black spots or marblings. During the breeding season 

 the head of the male is marbled with black and white, and there is a silvery band 

 along the sides of the tail; while in the female the under surface of the tail is uni- 

 formly orange. The toes are yellow with black rings. An inhabitant of Britain, 

 this species is spread over the greater part of Europe, extending as far north as 

 Sweden, but unknown in Italy, and ranging eastward to Greece, Turkey, and Rus- 

 sia. Not improbably Blasius's newt (M. bldsiz), from Northwestern France, is a 

 hybrid between the present and the next species, having the form and coloration of 

 the former, but the fronto-squamosal arch of the latter. 



Of the other European species, one of the handsomest is the mar- 

 Marbled Newt marmorata } f rom France, Spain, and Portugal, of 



which a male and female are represented in the illustration on p. 2663. Having a 

 ligamentous fronto-squamosal arch to the skull, this species is specially distin- 

 guished by the smooth dorsal crest of the male, and by the under parts being gener- 

 ally dark with white dots. The total length is about five and a quarter inches. In 

 general color the upper parts are green with black marblings; the crest of the male 

 being ornamented with black and white vertical bars, while in the female an orange 

 streak runs down the middle of the back. The sides of the tail have a silvery-white 

 band most distinctly marked in the male during the breeding season; the under 

 parts are brown or grayish, with more or less distinct darker spots, and dotted with 

 white; and the green toes are marked with black rings. Rare in France, this spe- 

 cies is common in Spain and Portugal; and it lives in ponds and streams only in the 

 early spring, spending the remainder of the year on dry land. 



The next species for notice is the Alpine newt (M. alpestris}, repre- 

 Alpme Newt sented in the iii ustrat i O n on p. 2656, which differs from the last by 

 the much lower dorsal crest of the males, and likewise by the uniformly orange 

 color of the under parts. In size it is a comparatively small species, varying from 

 three and a quarter to four inches in length. In color the upper parts, which may 

 be either uniform or with darker marblings, vary from brown, grayish, to purplish; 

 the sides have a series of small black spots on a whitish ground, beneath which, in 



