Tylototriton verrucosus

The Himalayan newt, or crocodile newt, is a large, rough-skinned newt reaching about 20cm. It is uniformly blackish-brown with an orange-yellow lower edge to the tail, a prominent knobbly ridge along the spine, 15 or 16 knob-like glands along each side, a wide head with three bony ridges, and a flattened tail with upper and lower crests. It was described by John Anderson in 1871 (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in May and June, with courtship at night in which the male moves around the female bending, pushing and curving his tail. It eats spiders, worms, millipedes, scorpions, molluscs and insects. It is recorded from mountains of Yunnan, the Kakhyen Hills, Sikkim, Manipur and northern Myanmar, and is protected at Darjeeling where it breeds in good numbers. The source does not mention Bhutan, so the Bhutan status of this entry should be checked (Wikipedia, general species account).