Emperor newt

The emperor newt (Tylototriton shanjing) is a highly toxic newt. It lives in southeast Asia. They live in pools and slow-moving streams in subtropical forests.[1]They mostly are awake during night and sleep during the day. The emperor newt usually eats small insects. These include crickets and worms.

Emperor newt
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Class:
Amphibia
Order:
Caudata
Family:
Salamandridae
Genus:
Tylototriton
Binomial name
Tylototriton shanjing

It is also called the mandarin newt or mandarin salamander. They can grow up to 8 inches (20 cm) long. It has a ridged orange head. A single orange ridge runs along its back. This ridge is lined with two parallel rows of orange bumps on a black background. The tail and legs are entirely orange. There are different shades of orange.[2]

When the newt is grabbed, the tips of the ribs will squeeze out poison. Emperor newts have enough toxin to kill about 7,500 mice.[3][4]

References
  1. tylototriton.org Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2/7/07
  2. torontozoo.com Archived 2006-11-11 at the Wayback Machine accessed 9/18/06
  3. detroitzoo.com accessed 9/18/06
  4. Caudata.org Archived 2013-05-31 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 1/10/07
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