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Ready_Bandicoot1567 t1_iy4v31w wrote

Reply to comment by SlicerStopSlicing in ‘Natural’ baby product company recalls toddler cups due to lead poisoning hazard by The_White_Light

tetrodotoxin scares the crap out of me. Ive been catching/handling/releasing california newts in a local pond for years (gently, with clean wet hands). One day I looked them up, turns out they are LOADED with tetrodotoxin due to an evolutionary arms race with a type of garter snake that eats them.

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SlicerStopSlicing t1_iy50p7u wrote

I had no idea they were in newts. Was this a North American species?

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Ready_Bandicoot1567 t1_iy64j9o wrote

Taricha torosa, California newt. Other species of Taricha also have tetrodotoxin. As far as I know their range is restricted to the pacific northwest.

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