| Sumario: | The courtship behaviour of behaviour of pygmy newts, Triturus pygmaeus, consists of three phases: Orientation, static display (often not clearly differentiated from each other) and spermatophore transfer. The repertoire of male sexual behaviour consists of nine different movements. Exhibition, an alert posture in which the male advances with small jumps around the female, is the most frequent behaviour. The predominant tail movement is slow fan, in which the tail is softly undulated from approximately 30° to 140°. In contrast to the tail lashes of the large Triturus species, the tail only occasionally beats against the male's flank and never touches the female. Bait mimic tail movements (described for T. boscai as flamenco) are used to attract the female's attention. The duration of sexual encounters was 2203 s on average, in which males displayed in about 81 % of this time. Although the courtship of T. pygmaeus shows clear differences from that of its closest relative, T. marmoratus, it should nevertheless be grouped with the larger Triturus species: Conspicuous tail movementes are used to attract the attention of the female, but no direct response is required of her to complete the courtship.
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