Rough-Skinned Newt

Taricha granulosa

Appearance

These newts are small, less than 10 centimetres long, and have a dark back and a yellow or orange belly. They have pale eyes, a long flat tail and their body is covered in little bumps.

Range & Habitat

They are found from Alaska to California in damp woodlands, grasslands and near swamps. They are mostly found underneath leaves, logs and in dark damp areas.

Diet & Behaviour

They eat small insects and worms. Rough-skinned newts have a poison in their skin, and predators will spit them out because they taste terrible.

Lifecycle & Threats

Rough-skinned newts breed in ponds in the early spring and summer. They lay their eggs covered in slime and attached to the undersides of leaves. The young hatch soon afterward. After hatching, they stay in the water to keep cool, until they metamorphose about 90 days later into adults. Newts are threatened by few predators because they taste so bad, but their habitats are threatened by logging and development.