Eastern Newt

[pauraque]

I spotted this very Not Camouflaged friend on a dirt road where I was walking. Investigation revealed that it's the juvenile stage of the Eastern Newt. They start out life in an aquatic tadpole stage that lasts a few months, and then metamorphose into this fancy terrestrial form, also called a Red Eft. The bright orange color is a warning that they carry a neurotoxin which Wikipedia says is "the strongest emetic that is known." (Not eager to learn how science found that out.) After a couple of years in this phase, they transform into their green adult form and return to the water, remaining aquatic for the rest of their lives.

The terrestrial stage is supposed to make it easier for them to colonize new habitats so the species doesn't become overly dependent on specific breeding spots.

Comments

[linky]

What a vibrant color!

[pauraque]

It certainly stood out!

[pameladean]

What a great creature! P.

[pauraque]

Definitely!

[shirebound]

Not eager to learn how science found that out

LOL, I agree!

What a clever and resilient little newt.

[full_metal_ox]

I would not even remotely put it past science to have licked the newt. You know science.

[fred_mouse]

My knowledge base is not biologists (botanists will put many stupid things in their mouths; mycologists are just terrifyingly blase), but I--a person who does not gamble--would happily put money on at least one, and probably more, biologists having licked the newt.

[satsuma]

what an interesting lifecycle! i’ve seen those around and figured their aggressively bright coloration was some sort of “don’t eat me” flag but i didn’t realize it went quite so far as strongest known emetic haha

[pauraque]

I guess when you're a small squishy creature, you don't want to take chances!

[adafrog]

Cool.

[pauraque]

:)

[jesse_the_k]

The eft is lovely, and the dirt road looks like it was the sea floor fairly recently (in geologic terms)

[full_metal_ox]

The eft is lovely, and the dirt road looks like it was the sea floor fairly recently (in geologic terms)

And let’s not forget: invaluable crossword puzzle word, when you need a brief but esoteric space-filler!

[pauraque]

So true. It's right up there with 'eke'. :)

[full_metal_ox]

And we mustn’t forget “ern” and “ono”—more esoteric zoological references, and constructed from among the Most Common Letters!

[pauraque]

Maybe so!

[kaishin108]

It's very pretty. And what interesting stages of life it has.
Thanks for sharing. :)

[pauraque]

My pleasure!

[a_natural_beauty]

Aww, what a lovely little guy!! :D
A wonderful photo, too!

[pauraque]

He seemed unconcerned by my presence so I was able to get very close. :)

[a_natural_beauty]

That's a nice feeling :)

[egret]

Truly fantastic! Thank you for posting this!

[pauraque]

Glad you liked it!

[zenigotchas]

UGH WHAT A CUTIE. How dare this little creature be so cute, I wanna scoop it up and put it in my pocket. It's seriously activating my cute aggression, I wanna pinch it....

[pauraque]

Haha, probably unwise given the neurotoxin situation!

[full_metal_ox]

eBay offers plenty of safely pocketable crocheted or resin replicas.

[zenigotchas]

Resin and crocheted stuff is wonderful but I can't imagine it can emulate the cute, soft looking arms or round tummy and generally squishy looking appearence of this newtie cutie.

Let's get dangerous.

[zenigotchas]

Meh, I'd risk it.

[cmcmck]

Gorgeous!

[pauraque]

For sure!

[turlough]

Wow, that's one intensely orange little guy! Fascinating life cycle too.

[pauraque]

Yes, I learned something!

[yourlibrarian]

Eye catching!

[pauraque]

Certainly caught mine!