A review of the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus (Razoumoski, 1789) in Essex
Aims and Objectives
To cany out a preliminary review of records of the Palmate Newt in Essex.
Methodology
A letter was sent to local herpetofauna recorders requesting Palmate Newt records within the county.
The information requested was location name, grid reference (six figures if possible), recorder name
and date. Information relating to associated amphibian species, habitat details and other points of
interest was also welcomed.
All records were collated and double checked against the list of records received from the Biologi-
cal Records Centre at Monks Wood. An updated list of Essex Palmate Newt records and a distribu-
tion map was then produced.
Results
A good response was received from local recorders, all records received included basic data, whilst
a few also included numbers seen or captured and details of other amphibian species living within
the same pond. The number of records received from each recorder is shown in table 1.
Table 1. Summary of the number of records received during 2001 and 2002
The study collected 148 records from 9 recorders. The records dated back to the 1880s. For this
study only the most recent records are used to show the distribution of Palmate Newts in Essex.
Additional Records
During the study a number of additional records were obtained from individuals in Essex who were
surveying ponds (see table 2).
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)