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253:, up to about 2000m. They prefer less humid climates than the rough-skinned newts. The Sierra newt migrates between aquatic and terrestrial habitats seasonally. Outside the breeding season, the newts are land-dwelling, preferring rock crevices and logs, in habitats such as forests, woodlands, and shrub-lands. However, during breeding season, the newts will migrate to aquatic regions to mate and lay eggs.
289:
The egg mass released by the female contains between seven and 30 eggs, and is roughly the consistency of a thick gelatin dessert. Typically, the egg masses are attached to stream plant roots or to rocky crevices in small, pools of slow-moving water, but they have also been known to be attached to
297:
Adult newts will stay in the pools throughout the breeding season, and can be occasionally found well into the summer. Larvae hatch sometime in early to midsummer, depending on local water temperature. However, the typical incubation length is between 14 and 52 days, varying primarily to water
301:
Larvae are difficult to find in streams, as they blend in well with the sandy bottom, to which they usually stay close. After the Larvae period which usually lasts till early fall or late summer, the newt will move to terrestrial habitats till they come back to reproduce in 5 to 8 years.
395:
eggs are among the Sierra newt's prey. In an aquarium habitat, earthworms provide the newt with all necessary nutrients. Other natural prey items would benefit the captive newt. Pellets tend to be inappropriate for terrestrial caudates, and fish food should be avoided completely.
352:. The mutations in the snake's genes that allow toxin metabolism have resulted in selective pressure that favors newts that produce higher concentrations of tetrodotoxin. Increases in newt toxicity then apply a selective pressure favoring snakes with greater resistance. This
332:
and harlequin frogs. While tetrodotoxin was previously believed to be produced through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria, this has been disproved. This neurotoxin is strong enough to kill most vertebrates, including humans. However, it is dangerous only if ingested.
273:
Reproduction occurs generally between March and early May. Typically, the adult newts will return to the pool in which they hatched between
January and February. After a mating dance, the male mounts the female and rubs his chin on her nose. He then attaches a
424:
will attack adults and attack and consume eggs and larvae. Their aggression also deters the newts from breeding. Manual removal of invasive crayfish is positively correlated with increasing newt population.
1350:
408:-CSC). Some populations have been greatly reduced in southern California coastal streams due to the introduction of non-native, invasive species and human habitation. The mosquitofish (
1049:
Kats, Lee B.; Bucciarelli, Gary; Vandergon, Thomas L.; Honeycutt, Rodney L.; Mattiasen, Evan; Sanders, Arthur; Riley, Seth P. D.; Kerby, Jacob L.; Fisher, Robert N. (1 November 2013).
1355:
515:
Shawn R. Kuchta (2007). "Contact zones and species limits: hybridization between lineages of the
California Newt, Taricha torosa, in the southern Sierra Nevada".
1289:
708:
Brodie, Edmund D.; Feldman, Chris R.; Hanifin, Charles T.; Motychak, Jeffrey E.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Williams, Becky L.; Brodie, Edmund D. (1 February 2005).
1330:
1051:"Effects of natural flooding and manual trapping on the facilitation of invasive crayfish-native amphibian coexistence in a semi-arid perennial stream"
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The Sierra Newt is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN, but it is currently a
California Special Concern species (
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underwater rocks or leaf debris. While shallow in a wide sense, these pools are rather deep relative to the average depth of a
1019:
593:"The occurrence of tetrodotoxin (tarichatoxin) in amphibia and the distribution of the toxin in the organs of newts (Taricha)"
1185:
1255:
356:
has resulted in the newts producing levels of toxin far in excess of what is needed to kill any other conceivable predator.
257:
710:"Parallel Arms Races between Garter Snakes and Newts Involving Tetrodotoxin as the Phenotypic Interface of Coevolution"
591:
Wakely, Jane Fail; Fuhrman, Geraldine J.; Fuhrman, Frederick A.; Fischer, Hans G.; Mosher, Harry S. (1 March 1966).
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859:"Genetic architecture of a feeding adaptation: garter snake (Thamnophis) resistance to tetrodotoxin bearing prey"
78:
749:"The evolutionary origins of beneficial alleles during the repeated adaptation of garter snakes to deadly prey"
528:
991:
Seth C. Gamradt; Lee B. Kats (1996). "Effect of
Introduced Crayfish and Mosquitofish on California Newts".
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211:
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548:. Samuel M. McGinnis, Robert C. Stebbins (Rev. ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
416:
291:
43:
1281:
808:"The Chemical and Evolutionary Ecology of Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Toxicity in Terrestrial Vertebrates"
671:"No evidence for an endosymbiotic bacterial origin of tetrodotoxin in the newt Taricha granulosa"
630:
Cardall, Brian L.; Brodie, Edmund D.; Brodie, Edmund D.; Hanifin, Charles T. (15 December 2004).
466:
73:
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420:) have caused the greatest reduction in newt populations. Although the newts are highly toxic,
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Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern
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Its adult length can range from 5 to 8 in (13 to 20 cm). Its skin produces a potent
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Sierra newts have few natural predators due to their high concentrations of tetrodotoxin.
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632:"Secretion and regeneration of tetrodotoxin in the rough-skin newt (Taricha granulosa)"
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241:). In 2007 it was determined that the two represent "distinct evolutionary lineages".
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Sierra newts mating in stream at
Woolman Semester in Nevada County, California
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Lehman, Elizabeth M; Brodie, Edmund D; Brodie, Edmund D (1 September 2004).
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1020:"Aggression by Non-Native Crayfish Deters Breeding in California Newts"
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DFG Hatchery EIR-EIS - Appendix E: Biology of
Decision Species (ca.gov)
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312:
150:
1242:
857:
Feldman, C. R.; Brodie, E. D.; Brodie, E. D.; Pfrender, M. E. (2010).
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Feldman, C. R.; Brodie, E. D.; Brodie, E. D.; Pfrender, M. E. (2009).
368:
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Charles T Hanifin; Edmund D Brodie Jr.; Edmund D Brodie III (2008).
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stream, varying in depth from about 1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 ft).
280:
222:
1018:
Gamradt, Seth C.; Kats, Lee B.; Anzalone, Christopher B. (1997).
1216:
908:"Phenotypic mismatches reveal escape from arms-race coevolution"
207:
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to the substrate, which she will retrieve into her cloaca.
972:
California
Department of Fish and Wildlife (April 2023).
529:
10.1655/0018-0831(2007)63[332:CZASLH]2.0.CO;2
249:
Sierra newts exist primarily in between the
Cascades and
863:
Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences
233:
The Sierra newt was formerly regarded as a subspecies (
545:
Field guide to amphibians and reptiles of
California
348:, have adaptations which allow them to predate upon
1132:
1114:guide to identifying species and keeping as a pet
489:Vanderlip, Jacquelynn; Hollingsworth, Bradford.
1351:Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
753:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
324:, which is hundreds of times more toxic than
8:
467:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T136023A4232066.en
1356:Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
1120:
1106:Caudata.org: Culture of California newts (
214:, from Shasta county to Tulare County, in
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1331:IUCN Red List least concern species
1005:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041155.x
453:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
316:members, the glands in the skin of
328:. This is the same toxin found in
14:
1036:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.96230.x
495:San Diego Natural History Museum
256:
77:
1341:Amphibians of the United States
1067:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2013.08.003
959:"Taricha sierra (Sierra Newt)"
320:secrete the potent neurotoxin
1:
687:10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.05.019
648:10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.09.006
1055:Journal of Arid Environments
925:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060060
806:Hanifin, Charles T. (2010).
609:10.1016/0041-0101(66)90021-3
542:Stebbins, Robert C. (2012).
1346:Endemic fauna of California
714:Journal of Chemical Ecology
442:Geoffrey Hammerson (2008).
391:, other invertebrates, and
1372:
414:) and red swamp crayfish (
237:) of the California newt (
726:10.1007/s10886-005-1345-x
218:, Western North America.
179:
172:
74:Scientific classification
72:
50:
41:
32:
23:
774:10.1073/pnas.0901224106
875:10.1098/rspb.2010.0748
354:evolutionary arms race
306:Toxicity and predation
286:
235:Taricha torosa sierrae
1092:CaliforniaHerps.com:
974:"Special Animal List"
460:: e.T136023A4232066.
284:
1024:Conservation Biology
993:Conservation Biology
16:Species of amphibian
978:Special Animal List
869:(1698): 3317–3325.
765:2009PNAS..10613415F
759:(32): 13415–13420.
417:Procambarus clarkii
400:Conservation status
292:Southern California
44:Conservation status
342:Thamnophis couchii
287:
210:found west of the
1318:
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1303:Open Tree of Life
1126:Taxon identifiers
1100:Sierra newt facts
825:10.3390/md8030577
555:978-0-520-94997-3
491:"California Newt"
310:Like other genus
245:Range and habitat
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1086:External links
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500:23 September
498:. Retrieved
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471:. Retrieved
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1277:NatureServe
1238:iNaturalist
1173:AmphibiaWeb
1158:Wikispecies
1061:: 109–112.
473:11 November
346:T. sirtalis
264:Description
198:Sierra newt
24:Sierra newt
1325:Categories
429:References
381:bloodworms
365:Earthworms
330:pufferfish
229:Subspecies
216:California
1075:0140-1963
918:(3): 60.
734:1573-1561
695:0041-0101
656:0041-0101
617:0041-0101
564:794328500
422:P.clarkii
159:Species:
97:Kingdom:
91:Eukaryota
1282:2.100598
1149:Q1951341
1143:Wikidata
944:18336073
893:20522513
844:20411116
793:19666534
389:crickets
377:woodlice
137:Family:
121:Amphibia
111:Chordata
107:Phylum:
101:Animalia
87:Domain:
64:IUCN 3.1
1230:2431917
1217:1282558
935:2265764
884:2981930
835:2857372
784:2726340
761:Bibcode
675:Toxicon
636:Toxicon
597:Toxicon
350:Taricha
326:cyanide
313:Taricha
206:) is a
152:Taricha
147:Genus:
131:Urodela
127:Order:
117:Class:
62: (
1308:957232
1295:344927
1269:136023
1256:775939
1243:135140
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369:snails
1336:Newts
1204:54XQR
393:trout
373:slugs
223:toxin
1290:NCBI
1264:IUCN
1251:ITIS
1225:GBIF
1178:6967
1071:ISSN
940:PMID
889:PMID
840:PMID
789:PMID
730:ISSN
691:ISSN
652:ISSN
613:ISSN
560:OCLC
550:ISBN
502:2014
475:2021
458:2008
360:Diet
344:and
208:newt
196:The
1212:EoL
1199:CoL
1186:ASW
1063:doi
1032:doi
1001:doi
930:PMC
920:doi
879:PMC
871:doi
867:277
830:PMC
820:doi
779:PMC
769:doi
757:106
722:doi
683:doi
644:doi
605:doi
525:doi
462:doi
406:DFG
1327::
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