Fire newt
| Scanderan fire newt | |
|---|---|
| File:Firenewt.jpg | |
| A painting of a fire newt breathing fire. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia
|
| Phylum: | Chordata
|
| Class: | Amphibia
|
| Order: | Caudata
|
| Family: | Salamandridae
|
| Genus: | Triturus
|
| Species: | T.ignis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Triturus ignis Hylfred Görenssen, 1785
| |
| File:Firenewt living habitat.png | |
| Habitat | |
The Scanderan fire newt or "Ild salamander" is a lizard that is native to Scanderan bogland, lakes and rivers. It is mostly known for it's dragon like ability to breath fire by combining two chemicals that is kept in a pouch outside of it's throat.
Just as most newts so is the fire newt amphibious and it is predatory using it's fire breath to hunt prey. As most newts so does the newt go through three stages in life, first so is it an aquatic larva, after which it becomes a juvenile (called an eft), and finally an adult with its famous fire breath.
Etymology
The modern Imerian world "Ild salamander" comes from the urmål term "ildr Salmaneir".
History
Fire newts while having never been domesticated have still been an important part of federal mythology and folk lore as it is said that the head of a salamander buried under ones home protected the house from fire. However all folk lore about the Fire newts is not good ones as they have long been thought to be responsible for failing corps and that they were jealous creatures that burnt down villages and houses if the owner wronged them somehow.
Taxonomy
When Hylfred Görenssen made his three books of animals, fish and birds so did he originally list the Fire newt as a close relative to the dragons and dragonlings even if they were by modern biologists classified as a close relative to frogs and other newts rather than a close relative to a dragon and despite both of them sharing the ability to breath fire so are they not related.
As any other newts so is the fire newt part of the Salamandridae family and is designated as Salamandridae Triturus.
Anatomy and health
At one meter's length so is the fire newt the largest amphibians in all of Scandera and prefers the still moving waters of lakes, rivers and swamps but despite that so are there still some individuals that makes their living in the brackish waters of Innanhafet.
Often so are the race split into two races, "Söt" and "hafs" newt as they are called depending if they are found in innan hafet or the lakes and rivers of inland Scandera. However countrary to what one would assume so is the ocean living hafs ild Salamander smaller of the two and it's ability to breath fire is severely limited compared to it's inland cousins.
Reproduction
While the newt spend most of it's time on land so does it return to the waters to breed in spring every year as large groups of newts gathers and the males put up impressive pyrotechnic displays as well as using the coloured pouches on their bodies to impress mates. Once a female have chosen a male so do they mate and the males deposits a package of sperm into the female that the female then absorbs into her body or rejects entirely.
Once the female is impregnated does she starts laying 2 or 4 eggs a day until she has laid as many as 100 eggs under water to hide them from predators. Three weeks later so are the larva born and spends their entire youth as aquatic predators but are however also hunted by larger fish as well as birds. It takes around six months for these young larvas to grow up to juveniles that then spends their days as amphibian creatures hunting up on land as well as in the water even if they are vulnerable at this stage and often the pray of large birds, fish, river wolves, rat wolves, wolves, rats, dragonlings, cats, Weasel, Martens, otters, lynx and wild cats.
However a radical change comes around when they turn into adults and they can produce their infamous fire breath when the large amphibians starts to actively hunt several of their former predators and only river wolves, rat wolves, dragonlings and wolves still are able to hunt them.
Diet
The fire newt is a predatory animal once it is an adult and while the larva stage is mostly living on smaller amphibians and insects so is the adult known to hunt birds, mammals and fish with it's fiery breath. However so is the animal very slow and prefers to sneak up on it's unsuspecting enemy before unleashing a scorching stream of fire at them so they can devour the cooked cadaver.
Behaviour
While the fire newt is aquatic so does it spend most of it's life on dry land where it hunts and sleeps even if it often builds it's nests very close to rivers and lakes to provide it with an escape rout would need be as it is a capable swimmer. It does however prefers dark and damp nests and have been known to build them under fallen trees or holes that they have made themselves with an escape rout dug to the water.
Though it does prefer to stay on land so is it also a capable swimmer and often travels by river as it travels to hunting grounds or back home. The hunting itself though is mostly done by sneaking up on it's prey before it unleashes a ray of fire from as long distances as two entire meters.
However as most reptiles in Scandera does it hibernate through most of the winter by digging itself down further into the ground into a house where it drags down grass and plants to keep warm.
Life expectancy
While a fire newt can be truly ancient and the oldest known example kept in captivity was documented to have died at the age of 30 so does most newts in the wild die at the age of 15.
