Only one species of newt left in Ireland

I came across a newt the other day in a shallow garden pond.

I hadn’t seen one for a while and I’d forgotten what extraordinary creatures they are — little dinosaurs left over from the Jurassic.

There’s only one species of newt in Ireland, though there are several in Britain and even more on the Continent. It’s sometimes called the smooth newt or the common newt. Its scientific name has changed as well. It used to be Triturus vulgaris but now it’s Lissotriton vulgaris.