Crater Lake newt
| Crater Lake newt | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Salamandridae |
| Genus: | Taricha |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | T. g. mazamae
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Taricha granulosa mazamae (Myers, 1942)[2]
| |
The Crater Lake newt or Mazama newt, Taricha granulosa mazamae, is a subspecies of the rough-skinned newt. Its type locality is Crater Lake, Oregon.[3] Crater Lake newts are genetically and morphologically distinct from neighboring rough-skinned newts, with the most notable differences being a comparative lack of tetrodotoxin in their skin, and a darker ventral surface.[4] While other members of their species have orange lower surfaces, in an example of aposematic coloration to warn predators of their toxicity,[5] Crater Lake newts were the apex predators in their environment for thousands of years, and lost the highly toxic skin of their ancestors.[4]
Similar newts have been found in Alaska,[6][7] but their identity is unclear.[2]
The Crater Lake newt population is under threat due to predation from crayfish and rainbow trout that have been introduced into the lake.[8]
References
- ^ "Taricha granulosa mazamae. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
- ^ a b Myers, G. S. (1942). "Notes on Pacific coast Triturus". Copeia. 1942 (2): 77–82. doi:10.2307/1439122. JSTOR 1439122.
- ^ Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Taricha granulosa (Skilton, 1849)". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Mazama Newts". Crater Lake National Park (U.S. National Park Service). September 26, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ^ Moniz, Haley A; Kruleski, Sage M; Risbud, Amar D; Louden, Samuel J H; Hanlon, Roger T; Stokes, Amber N; Palmer, Stephanie E; Feldman, Chris R (March 29, 2023). "Aposematic coloration of Pacific newts (Taricha) provides a qualitatively but not quantitatively honest signal to predators". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 139 (1). Oxford University Press (OUP): 1–17. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blad007. ISSN 0024-4066.
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), Globaltwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg [1] Archived 2009-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Nate Nelson (2000–2002). "Taricha granulosa Rough-skinned Newt". Caudata Culture. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "2015 OPB Article about the problem". Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-19.