THE AMPHIBIANS 



Pacific Coast Newt. Notophthalmus torosus (Rathke) 



Field characters. — Lizard-like in form, but without scales ; skin soft and moist. Total 

 length of adults about 6% inches. Coloration reddish brown to blackish brown above, 

 orange or pale yellow beneath; skin rough, with many low, black-tipped points when 

 animal is on land, becoming smoother when in water, especially in males. Movements 

 slow and deliberate. 



Occurrence.- — Resident chiefly in Upper Sonoran Zone on west slope of Sierra Nevada. 

 Eecorded at Pleasant Valley and near Coulterville, and reported from Smith Creek (6 

 miles east of Coulterville in Transition Zone). Gathers in pools of quiet water during 

 spring months; usually on land at other times of year, and then solitary. 



We found the Pacific Coast Newt or "water dog" at a few localities 

 in the western foothills of the Yosemite region. It may be expected to 

 occur in any of the canons there which have pools of water lasting through 

 the summer months; for the newt is the only one of our local species of 

 salamanders which, like the toads and frogs, repairs to the water to deposit 

 its eggs. 



At Pleasant Valley in mid-May of 1915 we were told that, a month 

 previous, "red salamanders" had been common in the creeks. On May 11, 

 1919, two of these animals were seen floating lazily with legs outstretched 

 in a pool in Blacks Creek. When pursued they laid their feet close against 

 their sides and wriggled, fish-like, to safety in the deeper parts of the pool. 



Elsewhere it has been learned that the adults of this species enter the 

 water in late winter, lay their eggs there in the spring, and then all but 

 a few of the adults leave the pools. Thenceforth, until the following 

 winter, the adults live on land, spending much of the time in damp places 

 under logs. The egg masses are fastened to grass blades or stems in the 

 water. Each mass includes one to twenty or more eggs, each in a small 

 capsule. The capsules are massed into a firm, transparent, globular body 

 about an inch in diameter. The tadpoles, after hatching out, live in the 

 water for a number of weeks. In late summer they lose their gills and 

 go through other transformations fitting them for terrestrial life and then 

 quit the pools, save for the return each season at breeding time. 



[651] 



