Stats

Lifespan

10-18 yrs

Size

Medium

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Cathemeral

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Walking

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

A North American newt found along the Pacific coast whose granular, warty skin secretes tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin potent enough to kill most predators that try to eat it. During its aquatic breeding season the skin smooths out and males develop a flattened, paddle-like tail for swimming.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2. 2.
   tadpole

   A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Caudata

Family

Salamandridae

Genus

Taricha

Species

Taricha granulosa