Sharp-ribbed Salamander

• The phenomenon is known as "venomous ribs".
• It is the largest newt in Europe, reaching up to 30 cm in total length.
• It eats aquatic invertebrates, small fish, amphibians and occasionally carrion.
• defensaIn defence, it can push the tips of its own ribs, coated in a toxic secretion, out through its skin — a mechanism unique among vertebrates.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)

Habitat and environment

Permanent and semi-permanent water — ponds, lakes, ditches and streams — of central and southern Iberia and Morocco

Birth weight

Hatches from the egg as an aquatic larva

Size at birth

Hatches from the egg as an aquatic larva

Sexual maturity

~1.5 years

Gestation / incubation

~13 days of egg incubation

Litter / clutch size

Up to several hundred eggs per clutch (as many as 725 on record)

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 20 years

Sources consulted: World Species · iNaturalist · PMC (hematology reference values study) · AnAge (genomics.senescence.info) · bioRxiv (transcriptome resource study)

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.