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CA Press: Watch out for ever-loving newts

wes_von_papineäu

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CONTRA COSTA TIMES (Walnut Creek, California) 28 December 07 Watch out for ever-loving newts (Paul Licht)
Warning: The newts are feeling amorous, and that means scores of them in the Berkeley hills will be following the same trail their parents and thousands before them have taken across paths and roads to get to the clear water of the UC Botanical Garden's Japanese Pool.
The annual lovers lollop, which usually coincides with the first rains, results in the closure of South Park Road in Tilden Regional Park. But other roads remain open, and the waterfall at the Japanese Pool is a prime newt viewing spot.
The ordinarily secretive newts are about 8 inches long and have a brown top and orange-yellow stomach. The rain brings them from their subterranean retreats to hunt for worms, slugs and insects, which will fatten them up for the winter-spring mating ritual.
While all newts are salamanders -- a tailed amphibian with legs and moist skin -- not all salamanders are newts, and the local roads close only for newts. The Bay Area is home to two species, the California newt, Taricha torosa, and rough-skin newt, Taricha granulosa. The California newt is most commonly observed.
This year, like the many thousands before, the advent of cool, wet weather in the fall brought out the small lizardlike creatures in a quest to fatten up for the winter-spring mating ritual, which will produce thousands of eggs in local ponds.
Since their skin contains one of the most potent toxins in nature, it deters almost all predators. Their main enemies these days are the automobile and misguided collectors. The toxin in the skin could pose a health risk for pets and children, and so for the sake of everyone's health -- the newts included -- it is wise to look, but not touch.
Should handling occur, be sure to wash hands carefully after touching them.
When their bellies are full and weather conditions are suitable, the creatures begin a migration to the breeding ponds. Shortly after entering the breeding pool, the males begin to change their appearance, and the dark, rough skin lightens and becomes conspicuously slimy.
The tail flattens to form a fin, and the arms become swollen and muscular to better grasp the females. They will spend many weeks in the pond waiting for females to court. The females also migrate to the ponds, but spend less time in the water -- just long enough to be courted and lay gelatinous balls containing several dozen eggs.
The slightly smaller females can be distinguished from males by the darker rough skin, thinner tail and plump appearance. This breeding migration, called "water-drive," is fascinating in itself, since it has been shown to be induced by a hormone produced by the newts' pituitary gland.
This hormone, prolactin, is the same hormone produce in humans (and other mammals), and is the hormone that stimulates milk production during nursing. In fact, if human prolactin is injected in a newt, it will induce the water-drive.
In the clear, cool water of the Japanese Pool at the UC Botanical Garden, you can watch dozens or even hundreds of male newts court or fight for females. Their success can be measured by the hundreds of conspicuous egg masses attached to twigs and the bottom of the pond.
The adult rough-skin newt looks similar to the California newt, but it lays its eggs singly, wrapped in the leaves of aquatic plants, and they are harder to find.
Many of the adult newts linger in the pool up through midsummer. As the season progresses, you can see the little larval newts developing in these egg masses.
Unlike the plump, legless frog tadpoles that cohabit the pool, the tiny larval newts are hatched with all four legs fully formed, and they more closely resemble their parents except for protruding gills and clear skin.
At the end of the summer, these larvae will metamorphose into miniature versions of the adult and disappear into the woods, seldom to be seen again until they return to breed five to eight years later.
It is likely that most of the adults you will see in the garden pool were born there many years ago, since they return to the site where they started. The adults may live for decades, if a car or collector doesn't get them.
So, if you see a newt crossing the road, please give it the right of way. If you want to see them up close and personal, the Garden at 200 Centennial Drive in Berkeley is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for viewing.
Paul Licht is director at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Visit the Web site at botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu.
http://origin1.contracostatimes.com/living/ci_7831123?nclick_check=1
 
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