A most unusual newt
I have found what may be a very rare hybrid between the smooth and palmate newt in our garden pond at Northiam. I am aware of only three confirmed and one possible specimen found in the UK to date, with two others reported in France and the Netherlands.
From above the animal, a male, looks rather like a male smooth newt, brown with numerous dark blotches but with the more square profile found in the palmate newt, and the tail colouration is very palmate newt - like, with a pale blue margin along the base of the tail, and a central pale brown strip, bordered above by a row of dark spots, with one or two below. The tip of the tail was developing a rather coarse tail filament a few days after this picture was taken.
Seen from below, however, Read the rest of this entry »
