Taricha granulosa
Silhouette: Neil Kelley · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The rough-skinned newt or roughskin newt (Taricha granulosa) is a North American newt known for the strong toxin exuded from its skin. A stocky newt with rounded snout, it ranges from light brown to olive or brownish-black on top, with the underside, including the head, legs, and tail, a contrasting orange to yellow. The skin is granular, but males are smooth-skinned during breeding season. They measure 6 to 9 cm (2.4 to 3.5 in) in snout-to-vent length, and 11 to 18 cm (4.3 to 7.1 in) overall. They are similar to the California newt (Taricha torosa) but differ in having smaller eyes, yellow irises, V-shaped tooth patterns, and uniformly dark eyelids. Males can be distinguished from females during breeding season by large swollen vent lobes and cornified toe pads.
Rough-skinned newts are found throughout the Pacific Northwest. Their range extends south to Santa Cruz, California, and north to Alaska. They are uncommon east of the Cascade Mountains, though occasionally are found (and considered exotic, and possibly artificially introduced) as far as Montana. One isolated population lives in several ponds just north of Moscow, Idaho, and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Trek Wildlife Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | British Columbia Wildlife Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Vancouver Aquarium | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Aquário Vasco da Gama | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 6 | Aquarium of the Bay | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rough-skinned Newt sighting in Vancouver on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 11 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rough-skinned Newt in Vancouver on a given day, against under 5% in November to September, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rough-skinned Newt sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Rough-skinned Newt sightings, Vancouver ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Portland (United States, about 10%) and Seattle (United States, under 5%).
Same order: Caudata
The closest relatives of the Rough-skinned Newt that you can see in Vancouver (order Caudata, Salamanders) are Northwestern Salamander (about 10%), Ensatina (about 10%) and Western Red-backed Salamander (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rough-skinned Newt is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Vancouver (15 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
