MONTGOMERY-Shakespeare’s famous recipe for witches’ brew calls for “eye of newt,” but what’s a newt? Newts are a kind of salamander found in North America, Europe, North Africa, and Asia. In Alabama we have one species, the eastern newt (Notopthalmus viridescens), of which there are two subspecies – the red-spotted newt and central newt.
Newts are not your typical salamanders. Many salamanders have an aquatic larval stage that matures into a land-dwelling adult. But newts mix-up that process. Aquatic larval newts transform into an intermediate terrestrial eft, or juvenile phase. The eft lives on land for a few years before returning to water and transforming into an aquatic adult stage. Adults can readily be found in still freshwater such as ponds, marshes, swamps, and ditches.
Newts are also unlike other salamanders in that their skin is not slimy but rough and grainy. The skin secretes a poisonous neurotoxin that protects them from predators, so adding them to your Halloween punch would be a bad idea. The eft displays aposematic coloration – bright red skin that warns potential predators this would not be a tasty treat. Look for efts boldly walking the forest floor after a rain.
To find out more about these unique amphibians check out the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Watchable Wildlife website.
Media Release/Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
