Endemic to southern Spain and Portugal, it is closely related to the larger marbled newt, but is smaller, rarer, and just as striking. What makes it truly unforgettable is its intricate marbled pattern—a swirling mix of green, black, and brown across its back, often highlighted with a bright orange or red stripe that runs from head to tail during the breeding season. It looks as though someone painted a miniature piece of abstract art and set it crawling through Iberia’s forests and wetlands.

In size, the southern marbled newt is modest, but its presence is anything but small. It inhabits Mediterranean woodlands, ponds, and marshes, preferring temporary or still-water habitats surrounded by rich vegetation. Like other newts, it lives a dual lifestyle: spending much of the year on land in damp, shaded areas under logs, stones, or leaf litter, and then moving into water bodies in spring to breed. In their aquatic phase, males transform into even more spectacular creatures, developing tall, jagged crests along their backs and tails, making them look like tiny, dragon-like beings.

Reproduction is one of the most fascinating parts of their life cycle. During courtship, males display their crests and wave their tails in a dance to impress females, releasing pheromones into the water to entice them. After fertilization, the female carefully lays each egg individually on aquatic plants, folding leaves around them for protection. The larvae that hatch are fully aquatic and feed on small invertebrates until they metamorphose into juvenile newts and take to land. This close tie to temporary ponds and wetlands makes the southern marbled newt especially sensitive to habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change, since drying ponds or agricultural expansion can quickly eliminate breeding sites.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Portugal

2023

Spain

2023