Taricha tarosa

A rare June rain brought out the California Newt (Taricha tarosa) on the Flume Trail. I counted nineteen (!) while running down the flume.

The California Newt is listed as a California Special Concern species, although you wouldn’t know it from the frequency of sightings in the Battle Creek watershed. They are a beautiful bright orange, but they are also deadly. They secrete a potent neurotoxin called teterodotoxin, which is about 100 times more toxic than cyanide. Apparently, the crazy amount of neurotoxin they secrete is the result of an evolutionary arms race between them and the garter snake. From Wikipedia:

Due to their toxicity, California newts have few natural predators. Garter snakes are the most common, and some species have developed a genetic resistance to tetrodotoxin. The mutations in the snake's genes that conferred resistance to the toxin have resulted in a selective pressure that favors newts that produce more potent levels of toxin. Increases in newt toxicity then apply a selective pressure favoring snakes with mutations conferring even greater resistance. This evolutionary arms race has resulted in the newts producing levels of toxin far in excess of what is needed to kill any other conceivable predator.

Notwithstanding the neurotoxin, they are adorable creatures and are really fun to watch as they meander slowly through the forest. — KLM