What is Alpine newt?
{{Taxobox | name = Alpine newt | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{IUCN2008|assessors=Arntzen, J.W. | display-authors = etal |year=2006|id=59472|title=Triturus alpestris|downloaded=2009-02-03}}</ref> | status = LC | trend = down | image = Mesotriton aplestris side view chrischan.jpeg | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | classis = [[Amphibia]] | ordo = [[Caudata]] | familia = [[Salamandridae]] | genus = ''[[Triturus]]'' | binomial = ''Triturus alpestris''}} The '''alpine newt''' (''Ichthyosaura alpestris'') is an [[amphibian]]. It is a [[Salamander]] (Urodela or Caudata). The alpine newt is one of five newts in [[Germany]]. == Description == Early in the year, alpine newts mate. During that time, the males have a blue color on their sides but not too much to overlap their white-black-spotted flank. Their belly is a bright orange. The females are more camouflaged to their marshy environment. They are a mottled brown with barely visible, black spots. The biggest of the males can reach up to nine, and the females up to twelve centimeters in length. After the mating season, they return to their natural color of the mottled brown. == Life and habitat == The alpine newt typically lives in forests with good access to water in hilly to mountainous regions. They are mostly absent in forest-poor areas. They often occur in thick deciduous forests, as well as parland and natural gardens. Outside the spawning season, the Alpine Newt is a land animal. During the day it stays in all kinds of undergrowth, but during the mating season in cool water (forest pools, artificial pools). After the adults come out of winter dormancy, the alpine newts immediately take themselves to the spawning pools. == Location == The spread of the alpine newt is constricted to [[Central Europe]] and parts of mountainous [[Southern Europe]] as well as an isolated area on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. There is also some introduced wild populations in the UK == Endangerment == After a steep decrease in the alpine newt popula