So a few days ago I posted about newts, and I mentioned that there was an American newt that was ridiculously toxic. But then (I said) there wasn’t space or time to go into why. And of course I was immediately bombarded by many* comments and e-mails asking why.
*three
Well, fine. The world’s most toxic newt is Taricha granulosa, the Rough-Skinned Newt, a modest little amphibian native to the North American Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascades from around Santa Cruz, CA up to the Alaska Panhandle.
It’s so toxic that the poison from a single newt can easily kill several adult humans. You could literally die from licking this newt, just once.
(But note that the newt is toxic, not venomous. It doesn’t bite or sting. You could handle one safely, as long as you washed your hands thoroughly afterwards. Very, very thoroughly.)
Okay, but… why? Lots of newts are mildly toxic. Why is this particularly newt so extremely toxic?
Turns out this is a fairly deep rabbit hole! I’ll try to teal deer it.
[click to continue…]
So a few days ago I posted about newts, and I mentioned that there was an American newt that was ridiculously toxic. But then (I said) there wasn’t space or time to go into why. And of course I was immediately bombarded by many* comments and e-mails asking why.
*three
Well, fine. The world’s most toxic newt is Taricha granulosa, the Rough-Skinned Newt, a modest little amphibian native to the North American Pacific Northwest, west of the Cascades from around Santa Cruz, CA up to the Alaska Panhandle.
It’s so toxic that the poison from a single newt can easily kill several adult humans. You could literally die from licking this newt, just once.
(But note that the newt is toxic, not venomous. It doesn’t bite or sting. You could handle one safely, as long as you washed your hands thoroughly afterwards. Very, very thoroughly.)
Okay, but… why? Lots of newts are mildly toxic. Why is this particularly newt so extremely toxic?
Turns out this is a fairly deep rabbit hole! I’ll try to teal deer it.
[click to continue…]