Water life · Lissotriton vulgaris
Discover the smooth newt
A long body and four little legs: Flauschi finds a relative of frogs.
The short answer
Smooth newts are amphibians using both water and land habitats. Their flattened tail helps swimming. Females can fold individual eggs into plant leaves. They are not lizards.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Puschel spots a slender movement in shallow water. Puschel“A tiny water dragon?” Flauschi smiles. Flauschi“A smooth newt.”
They watch from the safe path. It slips between the plants. Puschel points to the leafy tangle. Puschel“Someone has lots of hiding places.”
They walk quietly onwards. It did not turn out to be a real dragon, but Puschel’s discovery still feels special.
Discover
Smooth newts are amphibians, not lizards. They have a long body and four legs. In water, their side-to-side flattened tail helps them swim.
Understand
They breed in water. Females lay eggs individually, often folding a plant leaf around each egg.
Connections
Their larvae have visible external gill tufts. After metamorphosis many smooth newts spend part of their lives on land.
Little Wusel quiz
Why should we leave water plants untouched?
Show answer
They offer shelter, and individually laid newt eggs may be attached to their leaves.
Word help
- amphibians
- The group including frogs, toads and newts. Many need both water and land habitats.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Understand step by step
How it works – simply explained
An amphibian with a tail
A newt has four legs and a long tail flattened sideways for swimming. It is not a lizard.
Eggs are laid individually
A female may fold a plant leaf around an egg. Plants are therefore more than pond decoration.
Young and adults differ
Larvae have visible external gills for aquatic life. Many transformed newts spend time on land. One drawing cannot show every life stage together.
Explore animal sounds
Smooth newts can also produce clicks underwater. Researchers recorded them with an underwater microphone. With an adult, find examples for Lissotriton vulgaris in the study’s supplementary material; these recording conditions cannot simply be reproduced by listening from the bank.
PeerJ (2019): Underwater sound production varies within not between species in sympatric newts →