Newts? Salamanders?

[joel]

Whats the difference between a newt and salamander? I know all newts are salamanders but the same is not true vice versa. Online, I found a few sites saying newts lack ridges along its side. I also came across some books saying newts are aquatic salamanders but axolotls are not newts and some newts are terrestrial. And more confusingly, I have come across some sites calling Tylototriton shanjing
as Mandarin Salamander and some as Mandarin Newts? Someone please explain..

 

[paul]

generally newts are lareglt aquatic and salamanders are terrestrial

 

[kaysie]

Joel, there's really no big difference. they're all caudates. just newts/sals is used like Paul said, to distinguish aquatic and terrestrial. axolotls are paedeomorphic, they retain their larval traits throughout life. but if they were to morph, they'd be terrestrial. really, its not that big a deal. they're on the basic level, pretty interchangable.

 

[jennifer]

Salamanders of certain genuses in the family Salamandridae are called newts, simply by tradition. All newts ARE salamanders. Salamander is the more general term. Same with frogs/toads. All toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads. There is no firm logic to it, in either case. It's a quirk of language, not biology.

Mandarins are part of the genus Tylototriton, which are considered "newts". But it's not really wrong to call them salamanders. It probably happens because they are largely terrestrial, while most newts are largely aquatic.

 

[nate]

Like Jen said, newts are salamanders in the genus Salamandridae. The term "newt" began as a cultural term for Triturus and then was expanded for other Salamandrids, but not all. It's used for any members of Cynops, Echinotriton, Euproctus, Neurergus, Notophthalmus, Pachytriton, Paramesotriton, Pleurodeles, Taricha, Triturus, and Tylotriton who tend to have bumpy skin and obscured costal grooves.

Not all newts have bumpy skin, and not all of them are aquatic. Likewise, not all salamanders are terrestrial.

Clear as mud, eh?

 

[joel]

I read that salamanders from the genus Salamandridae consist of newts and true salamanders. What exactly is a true salamander? Ok, so physically, its safe to say that newts are generally aquatic salamanders? I've read up further and someone defined a newt as a salamander that returns to the water in its adult stage to breed.

 

[jennifer]

A newt is a salamander that returns to water to breed? By that logic, Ambystomatids (tiger sals, etc.) are newts. That doesn't work. If a newt is a salamander that returns to live in water as an adult, that means that most Triturus are NOT newts. That doesn't work either. The definition that Nate gave (specific genuses that are called newts) is the only definition that holds true.

As for what is meant by the term "true salamanders", I have not idea.

 

[mike]

As others have said, this is a language problem. Newt comes from the Old English word "ewt". By definition, since we only have Triturus spp. in the UK (and because we invented the language!), these are newts. Salamanders? Well, the Merkins (and those pesky Europeans) will need to sort those out - we don't be doin' with them foreign things 'ere!
(tongue firmly in cheek)

 

[nate]

Joel: true salamanders are members of the genus Salamandra (and potentially Chioglossa and Mertensiella) because they are the animals for which the name "salamander" was originally given.