Mandarin Newt (Emperor Newt)
Tylotriton shanjing
Range: China (Yunnan Province)
Habitat: Mountain Forests and Wetlands
Diet: Invertebrates
Social Grouping: Solitary
Reproduction: Breed May-August, deposit 80-240 eggs on rocks and plants in standing water. Eggs are laid either singly or in strings. They hatch after 15-40 days, undergo metamorphosis at 60 days, and are sexually mature at 3-4 years old.
Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened
- Body length 14-20 centimeters, males are smaller than females
- Sexes look alike. Dark brown or black background color with vivid red, yellow, or orange striped, crests, and lateral warts (bumps on the side of the body)
- Outside of breeding season it is completely terrestrial. Enter the water to reproduce
- Courtship displays involve moving in dance-like circular motions
- Warts on the back are poison glands; when seized, the poison will be squeezed out onto predators
- Species name comes from the Mandarin words shan for mountain and jing, for spirit or demon
- Popular in the pet trade due to bright coloration; sometimes caught and dried for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine
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