Palmate newt  (Triturus helveticus)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Range

This newt has a western European distribution, and is found from northern Germany through France to the north of Portugal and Spain. In Britain it has a widespread but rather patchy distribution. It is rare or completely absent from the Midlands, East Anglia, and parts of southern England and is most common in Wales and Scotland (2).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Habitat

The palmate newt breeds in a range of still and occasionally running water, including ponds, puddles, woodland and heath pools and even mountain lake edges (4). It shows a marked preference for shallow soft-water pools on acid soils, which explains why the species is common on heathland in the south and west of England, and in moorland and bogs in the north (5). Ponds and ditches that do not support fish are preferred, and it is often found in garden ponds (2). All amphibians require good quality undisturbed terrestrial habitats around the breeding ponds (2).

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