Good morning. Happy Humph Day.
Kitteh iz hiding.
Today’s special animal friend is Kaiser’s mountain newt, Neurergus kaiseri, a handsome, colorful salamander native to the southern Zagros mountains in Iran. This newt grows to about 5 inches long, making it the smallest species in the Neurergus genus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xutYMLS7ww
The captive-bred individuals in the video above are dull compared to those shown in some other images:
https://www.amphibians.org/amazing-amphibians/luristan-newt/
N. kaiseri has been observed in only four highland streams in the Zagros range. Their habitat is mostly dry scrubland featuring pistachio and oak trees with a few ponds and streams. The newts estivate during the dry season and return to the water to breed in the January/February rainy season. They prefer shallow and slow-moving water with sandy or pebbly bottoms.
During courtship, a male will approach a female face to face. If she moves towards him, signaling interest, the male will turn and walk away, waving and quivering his tail in a very appealing way. The female will follow, occasionally touching his tail, which stimulates additional wiggling. Eventually, he deposits a spermatophore on the sand and maneuvers the female into a position where her cloaca covers the spermatophore.
Following this exercise, the female enters the water and deposits eggs on rough surfaces such as rocks. The eggs hatch and metamorphose in about two months, an accelerated development that reflects the uncertain water supply in their habitat.
N. kaiseri is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN. In the past, they were over-collected for the pet trade and are listed in CITES Appendix 1 (no collection or export). However, captive breeding programs have been extremely successful. The Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, has bred and sold so many N. kaiseri that they used the income to fund a year-long conservation program in Iran.
They are really easy to breed and raise under a variety of water-flow conditions, and they live around 6 - 8 years in captivity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcv75vXKNE
Threats include habitat destruction/fragmentation and predation by introduced fish. One article estimated the wild population at 1,000 individuals, but the Tulsa Zoo website says they are extinct in the wild. Information from Iran is limited.
It looks like he’s hiding in the native greenery of our yard.
I think I missed your post, somehow, and I apologize.
However, I think you were right when you thought DVDs were read from the center out. I was watching one of diving for amphorae off the coast of Ventotene, (where Caesar Augustus’ daughter was exiled) and whole sections were being skipped.
Normally, I check the DVD for greasy fingerprints and clean them off but I didn’t on this one. I stopped it and pulled it out and sure enough...BIG ol’ greasy fingerprint from the center hole outwards.
What would I do without you? ;o]