Crater Lake newt

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Crater Lake newt
Status TNC T1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Salamandridae
Genus: Taricha
Species:
T. granulosa
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

  1. ↑ "Taricha granulosa mazamae. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  2. 1 2 Myers, G. S. (1942). "Notes on Pacific coast Triturus". Copeia. 1942 (2): 77–82. doi:10.2307/1439122. JSTOR   1439122.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. 1 2 "Mazama Newts". Crater Lake National Park (U.S. National Park Service). September 26, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), Globaltwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg Archived 2009-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Nate Nelson (2000–2002). "Taricha granulosa Rough-skinned Newt". Caudata Culture. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "2015 OPB Article about the problem". Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-19.


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