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California Newt

Taricha torosa

Photo by StirredMocha
Published on Project Noah
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37.5244, -122.385

Field Notes

Description:

These brightly colored newts produce tetradotoxin, an extremely potent toxin that is also produced by the venomous blue-ringed octopus and highly poisonous fugu pufferfish. They are predated on by garter snakes which have evolved resistance to the chemical, thus spurring the newts to evolve to produce even more toxin in an evolutionary arms race.

Notes:

Found in foggy Santa Cruz mountains at Elkus Youth Ranch during Christmas bird count.

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National Geographic's Great Nature Project
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PublishedAugust 4, 2014

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