In the summer they shelter beneath stones or rotting tree trunks if their stream dries up. All Europe, inc. GB and Ire. Once common in cultivated areas but now endangered by use of chemicals. Males are brighter, have a crest from the head to the tip of the tail and are usually larger.
Females only have a narrow crest along the tail.
In colouring these newts appear much like the other Triturus species. Breeding takes place between April and June, after which the newts leave the water and spend the rest of the year on dry land. Hibernation often takes place in large groups. Neoteny is quite common in the Smooth Newt, with some populations never leaving the water. It seems both were once the same species but evolved separately after geographical separation during the ice ages.