18 votes

The impossible predicament of the death newts

3 comments

  1. MimicSquid
    Link
    What a great little snapshot of an interaction between predator and prey! Thanks for sharing.

    What a great little snapshot of an interaction between predator and prey! Thanks for sharing.

    7 votes
  2. skybrian
    Link
    From the article: … …

    From the article:

    The world’s most toxic newt is Taricha granulosa, the Rough-Skinned Newt, a modest little amphibian native to the North American Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascades from around Santa Cruz, CA up to the Alaska Panhandle.

    The simple version: the newt is in an arms race with the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. The garter snake is a small-to-medium sized snake that is common all over North America. It’s a slim, elegant little creature that is usually found in or near water. And while it will eat pretty much anything it can catch, the garter snake particularly likes amphibians: small frogs, salamanders and newts. And in the Pacific Northwest, it really likes snacking on the Rough-Skinned Newt.

    Except this is biology, so of course it’s not that simple.

    6 votes
  3. TMarkos
    Link
    https://archive.is/hJHNM Archive link, since the site is not loading for me.

    https://archive.is/hJHNM

    Archive link, since the site is not loading for me.

    3 votes