02.07

For my reading material I decided to read an article on the rough-skinned newt. The rough-skinned newt or, (Taricha granulosa), is an amphibian normally found in the Northern Americas and known for its strong poison. The newt has a rough, bumpy back that produces toxic poison when begin attacked or eaten. But in the rough-skinned newt’s defense, when they see a predator coming, they tilt their heads back and curl up their tails showing their bright colored under-bellies and giving their predators a warning that they are not to be messed with. I found a video of the rough-skinned newt and it was one of the most amazing things I ever seen! There was the newt minding its business, and then a frog slurped the newt up, not knowing he just committed suicide. The toxin binds reversibly to sodium channels in nerve cells and interferes with the normal flow of sodium ions in and out of the cell. This has the effect of inducing paralysis and death. Thus the frog was paralyzed to his death and the newt was able to crawl out of the frogs’ mouth in freedom. If I were able to create notes on this article, it would be in Outline style. Making outlines has always been less difficult for me to do and it’s easier to write in short hand.