Newt Observation Essay

Newts are semi-aquatic amphibians with tails (Brockes 2005) that are of the family Salamandridea. All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts. I will be observing specifically California Newts (Taricha torosa) and Rough-Skinned Newts (Taricha granulosa), which are both commonly found in the Northern California Area. Each can also be found in the UC Botanical Garden’s Japanese Pool, which is where I will be observing them. The two species are very close genetically and are able to form hybrids, although it seems to be extremely rare in nature (Davis and Twitty 1964). Therefore, I will be observing and drawing conclusions from both species’ behaviors. Male and female newts typically behave similarly, with the main exceptions being in the mating process. Male newts tend to migrate towards breeding individually and female newts in groups. The influx of males to ponds is gradual and begins about a month before females start to enter (Pimentel 1960). This appears to be the only major difference between sexes as far as their time spent …show more content…
I intend to explore the mating benefit of the male tail, particularly with help from the works by Propper, Halliday, and Janzen (referenced below). These explore the behaviors before, during, and after mating while will hopefully allow me to compare the sexes’ actions and see how a tail may benefit a male. The works of Grayson, Dodd, and Pimentel describe more about the actions of males and females outside of mating, and perhaps how a flatter tail could help the male on land or in the water. Janzen, Brossman, Arntzen, and Gvodik all either discuss the tails themselves or experiment with the tails of newts and their significances. Halliday’s work also goes into depth of another Genus of newt that has very different mating rituals than Taricha, and I am hoping to get another perspective of how a tail could benefit one newt over