The first to signify a change, good or bad, in an environment always falls on the amphibians. The Yunnan Lake Newt of the Kunnming Lake located in Yunnan, China, is no exception.

A type of firebelly newt, the Yunnan Lake Newt could reach up to 16 cm in females and 12 cm in males. They lived on the shallow shores of lakes and canals, hiding amongst aquatic plants. During the breeding season, they’d congregate in the thousands, with males sporting a blue tail to show off to females in a complex courtship ‘tail-fanning’ ritual. They would hibernate in the winter.

Though once abundant, the Yunnan Lake Newt declined rapidly in only a few decades. Many factors are blamed, including the rapid growth of Kunming City, which led not only to habitat loss, but to the dumping of industrial waste into the Kunming Lake. Exotic fish and frog were introduced to the area for food production, which created more pressure on

Extinction Date According to the IUCN Red List: 1979