Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
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| Rough-skinned Newts are large salamanders reaching total lengths up to 8 inches. They are characterized by warty skin that is not slimy, and are light brown to balck above with ayellow to orange belly. They bear a close resemblance to California Newt, but the teeth in the upper jaw form a V shape as opposed to a Y in the very California Newt, but this is easy to look at only on dead specimens. An easier to see charcter is the color of the lower eyelid, which in the Rough-skinned Newt is dark (light colored in the California Newt). Rough-skinned Newts also have smaller eyes - seen from above the outline of the eye does not reache the edge of the outline of the head, it does in the California Newt. However, Rough-skinned Newts are quite poisonous, as are all Newts of the genus Torosa, so it is not advised to handle these salamanders. If you do, wash your hands before touching your eyes or anything that you might put in your mouth. They are found in a variety of habitats from sea levle to 9000 ft. At Crater Lake, OR, the newts found there are nearly totally black and have been given a subspecies designation - Crater Lake Rough-skinned Newt, T. g. mazamae. All other populations are referred to as the Rough-skinned Newt, T. g. granulosa. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/herps/amphibid/species/taricha.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 05:02:59 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]
