Newt
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 Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris)
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This article is about the animal called newt. For other meanings, see Newt (disambiguation).
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Eft and eft redirect here. For other meanings see EFT.
Newts are small, usually bright-coloured semiaquatic salamanders of North America, Europe and North Asia, distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of the body.
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[edit] Characteristics
Newts have the ability to regenerate limbs, eyes and spinal cords. The cells at the site of the injury have the ability to de-differentiate, reproduce rapidly, and differentiate again to create a new limb or organ. One theory is that the de-differentiated cells are related to tumour cells since chemicals which produce tumours in other animals will produce additional limbs in newts.[citation needed]
Many newts produce toxins in their skin secretions as a defense mechanism against predators. Taricha newts of western North America are particularly toxic; the Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa) of the Pacific Northwest produces more than enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human foolish enough to swallow a newt. In order to cause harm, the toxins have to enter the body by being ingested or entering a break in the skin.
[edit] Handling newts
Theoretically it is safe to handle newts provided one thoroughly washes one's hands. However, human skin is toxic to newts.[citation needed] The fewer oily hands touching them the better. If you must handle them, wash your hands with warm water and soap but make sure there is no soap left on your hands before handling.
[edit] Development
Newts can take several years to reach sexual maturity. Their main breeding season is between February and June. They hatch as tadpoles from eggs laid in ponds or slow-moving streams (see image on the right) and then undergo metamorphosis, during which they commonly leave the water, only to return to the water to live out their adult lives. During the time right after metamorphosis, many North American Newt species go through a phase called the eft phase. Their skin turns a reddish color and the animal lives its life on land, almost never seen in the water. Only when the eft reaches adulthood will it begin to live its life in a more aquatic fashion, and may rarely venture onto land.
[edit] Distribution
The three common British species are the Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus), Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris) and the Palmate Newt (Triturus helveticus). On the mainland of Europe exists such species as the Spanish Ribbed Newt (Plurodeles waltl), the largest species of newt, the Alpine Newt, and the Southern Crested Newt.
In North America, the Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is one of the most abundant species, but it is limited to the area east of the Rocky Mountains so it is also called the "Eastern Newt". The three species of Coastal newt are the Red Bellied Newt, the California Newt, and the Rough-skinned Newt, all of which belong to the genus Taricha, which is confined to the area west of the Rockies.
In Japan, the Sword-tail Newt (Cynops ensicauda) is becoming rare and is threatened by pollution and deforestation.
[edit] Etymology
The oldest form of the name is eft, which is still used for newly metamorphosed juveniles, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary it changed for unknown reasons first to euft and then to ewt. For some time it remained as an ewt, but the N from the indefinite article an shifted to form a newt. See A, an for other examples.
[edit] Newts in Popular Culture
- The P.G. Wodehouse character Gussie Fink-Nottle, a friend of Bertie Wooster, has a fascination with newts.
- In 1936, Czech science-fiction writer Karel Čapek wrote an internationally-acclaimed novel called War With the Newts about the discovery of a species of intelligent newts in an island close to Indonesia.
- In Monty Python and the Holy Grail a peasant claims that a suspected witch turned him into a newt. Luckily the peasant "got better".
- The witches in Macbeth include "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog" along with many other repulsive ingredients in a recipe for their potion, but the "eye of newt" stands foremost in the popular imagination as the archetypical arcane spell ingredient.
- In the film Aliens the character played by Carrie Henn is nicknamed Newt.
- In the anime film Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi), grilled newt is a highly sought-after delicacy in the Aburaya bath house.
- In The Animals of Farthing Wood, a family of Newts are among the animals who undertake the dangerous journey to White Deer Park.
