Editing Northern crested newt (section)

===Courtship and reproduction===
{{See also|Triturus#Reproduction}}

[[File:Courtship of northern crested newt (Triturus cristatus).webm|thumb|left|alt=Video of crested newt courtship behaviour filmed underwater in a pond|Northern crested newt courtship in a pond, with male showing "lean-in" and tail-flapping behaviour]]

Northern crested newts, like their relatives in the genus ''Triturus'', perform a complex [[courtship display]], where the male attracts a female through specific body movements and waves [[pheromones]] to her. The males are territorial and use small patches of clear ground as [[lek mating|leks]], or courtship arenas. When successful, they guide the female over a [[spermatophore]] they deposit on the ground, which she then takes up with her [[cloaca]].{{r|JehleThiesmeier2011|p=80–89}}

The eggs are fertilised internally, and the female deposits them individually, usually folding them into leaves of aquatic plants. A female takes around five minutes for the deposition of one egg. They usually lay around 200 eggs per season. Embryos are usually light-coloured, 1.8–2&nbsp;mm in diameter with a 6&nbsp;mm jelly capsule, which distinguishes them from eggs of other co-existing newt species that are smaller and darker-coloured. A [[Chromosome No. 1 syndrome|genetic particularity]] shared with other ''Triturus'' species causes 50% of the embryos to die.{{r|1=JehleThiesmeier2011|p1=61–62|2=HornerMacgregor1985}}

Larvae hatch after two to five weeks, depending on temperature. As in all salamanders and newts, forelimbs develop first, followed later by the back legs. Unlike smaller newts, crested newt larvae are mostly [[nektonic]], swimming freely in the water column. Just before the transition to land, the larvae [[wiktionary:resorb|resorb]] their external gills; they can at this stage reach a size of {{convert|7|cm|in}}. [[Metamorphosis]] into terrestrial [[eft]]s takes place two to four months after hatching, again depending on temperature. Survival of larvae from hatching to metamorphosis has been estimated at a mean of roughly 4%. In unfavourable conditions, larvae may delay their development and overwinter in water, although this seems to be less common than in the small-bodied newts.{{r|JehleThiesmeier2011|p=64–71}}

{{Multiple image
|header=Development in the northern crested newt
|total_width=800
|align=center
|image1=OpenedLeafwithEggOfTriturusCristatus.JPG
 |caption1=Embryo in jelly capsule
 |alt1=A transparent egg with a white embryo on the leaf of an aquatic plant
 |width1=2288
 |height1=1712
|image2=TriturusCristatusYoungLarva.JPG
 |caption2=Young larva
 |alt2=A newt larva with gills and forelimbs, but no hindlimbs developed
 |width2=2272
 |height2=1704
|image3=TriturusCristatusLarvaAlmostGrown.jpg
 |caption3=Larva shortly before metamorphosis
 |alt3=A dark-coloured larva with all limbs developed but gills still apparent
 |width3=2272
 |height3=1704
|image4=Noerdlicher-Kammmolch-triturus-cristatus.jpg
 |caption4=Terrestrial juvenile
 |alt4=A small, black newt without gills or crest on mosstaxobox
 |width4=3744
 |height4=2262
|footer= ''Triturus'' species fold their eggs in leaves of aquatic plants. The larvae first develop fore- and later hindlimbs and can grow up to 7 cm. After metamorphosis, juveniles are around 3–5 cm long. In total, larval development takes between two and four months.
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}}