 |
|
|
newt suit needs ironing: |
| Author | Message |
|
ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337  View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 20 May 2010 This character turned up in my pond this year. He put on his best breeding finery for the party in the hope of scoring but got an embarrassing crease in it along the way. it made me think of Beau Brummel turning up to a Regency garden party with his cravat all twisted! No idea whether it adversely affected his success with prospective partners at all but it didnt seem a handicap to other activities such as swimming. I wonder what his tail would look like out of the breeding season and whether it retains visual sign of the odd curvature. Considering the relatively secretive nature of the species on land and the 50% annual mortality rate of adult vulgaris, I'd say my chances of bumping into him again to find out are small. It's a little bit tempting to re-house him in controlled circumstances for later examination but I want wild newts. All photography by K Byrnes- thanks! Obviously at first i assumed a wily cristatus female had laid an egg on the smooths tail and folded it in half in the usual manner. Perhaps hoping to afford her young further protection from grazing predators in the form of mobile eggs. no, not really. i dont know what you think is the cause of the defect (lets hear your thoughts) but not seen other newts with probs. so if disease, unlikely to be a contagen at least. unless theres a long incubation period before these symptoms show. previous injury and resultant scar tissue growth is a possibility of course but this is an animal that can regenerate LEGS. somehow i suspect the reason may be of genetic origin. or perhaps you can think of something else. any thoughts/seen similar dearest reader? ____________________________ Ben Rigsby, POSTMAN, Royal Mail    Diversity. |
|
Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 21 May 2010 I'd go with injury/ regrowth- regeneration is rarely 100% perfect, especially in older individuals. I had a captive male T. karelinii that had half its tail bitten off by a tankmate- it grew back to about 3/4 of the original length, and was offset by about 15 degrees. Didn't seem to affect its breeding success. |
- newt suit needs ironing |