Iberian Ribbed Newt

The Iberian ribbed newt is a large, robust newt native to the Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal and to parts of northern Morocco. It gets its common name from an unusual defense mechanism: when threatened, it flexes its ribs sharply enough to pierce through rows of tubercles along its flanks, projecting the sharpened rib tips outward through the skin, and in some populations these projecting tips are coated with a toxic skin secretion that deters predators from biting down. Its coloration ranges from olive-brown to gray with a line of orange or yellow tubercle tips along each side. Because it tolerates handling well, breeds readily in captivity, and can regenerate lost limbs, tail, and even parts of internal organs, it has long been used as a laboratory model organism in regeneration and developmental biology research.