page_title: Rough-skinned newt
section_title: Toxin resistance and predation
hierarchical_section_title: Rough-skinned newt / Toxicity / Toxin resistance and predation
caption_attribution_description: English: A rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) under water in a creek on the Oregon Coast, United States
context_page_description: The rough-skinned newt or roughskin newt is a North American newt known for the strong toxin exuded from its skin.
context_section_description: Throughout much of the newt's range, the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) has been observed to exhibit resistance to the tetrodotoxin produced in the newt's skin. While in principle the toxin binds to a tube-shaped protein that acts as a sodium channel in the snake's nerve cells, researchers have identified a genetic disposition in several snake populations where the protein is configured in such a way as to hamper or prevent binding of the toxin. In each of these populations, the snakes exhibit resistance to the toxin and successfully prey upon the newts. Successful predation of the rough-skinned newt by the common garter snake is made possible by the ability of individuals in a common garter snake population to gauge whether the newt's level of toxin is too high to feed on. T. sirtalis assays toxin levels of the rough-skinned newt and decides whether or not the levels are manageable by partially swallowing the newt, and either swallowing or releasing the newt. Toxin-resistant garter snakes are the only known animals today that can eat a rough-skinned newt and survive.
caption: A rough-skinned newt underwater
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