A Resistant Predator and Its Toxic Prey: Persistence of Newt Toxin Leads to Poisonous (Not Venomous) Snakes

@article{Williams2004ARP,
  title={A Resistant Predator and Its Toxic Prey: Persistence of Newt Toxin Leads to Poisonous (Not Venomous) Snakes},
  author={Becky L. Williams and Edmund D. Brodie and Edmund D. Brodie},
  journal={Journal of Chemical Ecology},
  year={2004},
  volume={30},
  pages={1901-1919}
}
The Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) preys upon the Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), which contains the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the skin. TTX is toxic, large quantities are present in a newt, and highly resistant snakes have the ability to ingest multiple newts; subsequently snakes harbor significant amounts of active toxin in their own tissues after consuming a newt. Snakes harbor TTX in the liver for 1 mo or more after consuming just one newt, and at least 7 wk after… 
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53 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
6
Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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Results Citations
2

53 Citations

Predators usurp prey defenses? Toxicokinetics of tetrodotoxin in common garter snakes after consumption of rough-skinned newts
TLDR
Accounting of the coevolutionary dynamic between snakes and newts must incorporate post-consumption affects of lingering TTX, as negative fitness consequences of intoxication during and after newt consumption may be balanced by co-opting the newts’ chemical defense for protection from the snakes’ own predators.
Tetrodotoxin affects survival probability of rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa) faced with TTX-resistant garter snake predators (Thamnophis sirtalis)
TLDR
This work examined the interaction between the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa), which contains a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX), and the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), and demonstrated the first direct and quantitative demonstration of the antipredator efficacy of TTX.
Predatory Caddisfly Larvae Sequester Tetrodotoxin from Their Prey, Eggs of the Rough-Skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa)
TLDR
Caddisfly larvae that were frozen immediately after collecting in the wild possessed TTX, and wild-caught larvae reared on a TTX-free diet in the laboratory retained TTX for up to 134 days, through metamorphosis and into the adult stage.
Chemical defense of an Asian snake reflects local availability of toxic prey and hatchling diet
TLDR
The presence of large quantities of bufadienolides in the nuchal glands of R. tigrinus from Ishima may reduce the risk of predation by providing an effective chemical defense, whereas snakes on Kinkasan may experience increased predation due to the lack of defensive compounds in their nuchAL glands.
Of Newts and Neurotoxins: Coevolution in a Predator-Prey System Provides a Multifaceted Backdrop for Engaging Students
  • M. Fisher
  • Biology
    The American Biology Teacher
  • 2022
TLDR
The coevolutionary arms race between toxic newts and predatory garter snakes and the use of a deadly neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX) as an antipredator defense is described.
Functional and physiological resistance of crayfish to amphibian toxins: tetrodotoxin resistance in the white river crayfish (Procambarus acutus)
TLDR
The supposed tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance of freshwater crayfish, which have been observed to eat the eggs and larvae of toxic Taricha Gray, 1850 newts, is characterised.
The Chemical and Evolutionary Ecology of Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Toxicity in Terrestrial Vertebrates
  • C. Hanifin
  • Biology, Environmental Science
    Marine drugs
  • 2010
TLDR
The taxonomic distribution and evolutionary ecology of TTX in amphibians is reviewed with some attention to the origin ofTTX present in these taxa.
Chemical Evidence for Dietary Toxin Sequestration in the Asian Snake Rhabdophis tigrinus
TLDR
R. tigrinus is the first amniote vertebrate known to have evolved specialized defensive structures dependent upon sequestered dietary compounds, either obtained directly from prey or provisioned by the dam.
Ecological functions of tetrodotoxin in a deadly polyclad flatworm.
TLDR
Through ecological experiments, it is shown that TTXs do not protect these flatworms from some predators but instead are used to capture mobile prey.
Chemical investigations of defensive steroid sequestration by the Asian snake Rhabdophis tigrinus
Rhabdophis tigrinus is an Asian natricine snake that possesses unusual defensive glands on the dorsal surface of its neck. These nuchal glands typically contain cardiotonic steroidal toxins known as…
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References

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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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