Courtship, mating and egg-laying in Tylototriton verrucosus from the Darjeeling district of the Eastern Himalaya

Tylototriton verrucosus is confined to high altitudes of the Eastern Himala ya. The present study on salamanders of Darjeeling district deals with cour tship, mating and egg-laying in 46 pairs of T. verrucosus during May and Ju ne 1999, under natural and laboratory conditions. The animals show sexual d imorphism during the breeding season. Courtship and amplexus always take pl ace at night. The courtship behaviour is in the form of a nuptial dance. Th e amplexus is ventral and the eggs are laid singly. The duration from court ship to egg-laying varies between pairs. Clutch size is positively correlat ed to the length and weight of the female.