Newt Sightings in the Forest of Big Basin State Park

Text by Joan Zimmerman, Ph.D.
All photos (c) 2006-2007 Scott Peden, Photographer and Docent at Big Basin State Park.

Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. Monthly reports for surveys on the Berry Creek Falls Loop (BCFL) Trail: January, February, March, April, May, June. July, August, September, October, November, December.

Newt photos (all (c) 2006-2007 Scott Peden).
Newt coevolution.

Newt photos

All photos (c) 2006-2007 Scott Peden.

Newt coevolution

Biologist John N. Thompson (of UCSC) reports:

• Newts in creeks and woods around San Francisco Bay are in a tit-for-tat biological arms race, (i.e., coevolution) with garter snakes:
  • Snakes eat newts.
  • Newts generate a neurotoxin in their skin.
  • Snakes evolve with resistance to the neurotoxin.
  • Newts evolve to produce more toxin.
  • And so on.
• Such coevolution escalates in some places, but in other places the species coexist.

John N. Thompson:

• Is professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

• Wrote The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution (Interspecific Interactions) (2005). Book Description:

  Coevolution--reciprocal evolutionary change in interacting species driven by natural selection--is one of the most important ecological and genetic processes organizing the earth's biodiversity: most plants and animals require coevolved interactions with other species to survive and reproduce. The Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution analyzes how the biology of species provides the raw material for long-term coevolution, evaluates how local coadaptation forms the basic module of coevolutionary change, and explores how the coevolutionary process reshapes locally coevolving interactions across the earth's constantly changing landscapes.

  Picking up where his influential The Coevolutionary Process left off, John N. Thompson synthesizes the state of a rapidly developing science that integrates approaches from evolutionary ecology, population genetics, phylogeography, systematics, evolutionary biochemistry and physiology, and molecular biology. Using models, data, and hypotheses to develop a complete conceptual framework, Thompson also draws on examples from a wide range of taxa and environments, illustrating the expanding breadth and depth of research in coevolutionary biology.

• Wrote The Coevolutionary Process (1994). Book Description:

  Traditional ecological approaches to species evolution have frequently studied too few species, relatively small areas, and relatively short time spans. In The Coevolutionary Process, John N. Thompson advances a new conceptual approach to the evolution of species interactions--the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution. Thompson demonstrates how an integrated study of life histories, genetics, and the geographic structure of populations yields a broader understanding of coevolution, or the development of reciprocal adaptations and specializations in interdependent species.

  Using examples of species interactions from an enormous range of taxa, Thompson examines how and when extreme specialization evolves in interdependent species and how geographic differences in specialization, adaptation, and the outcomes of interactions shape coevolution. Through the geographic mosaic theory, Thompson bridges the gap between the study of specialization and coevolution in local communities and the study of broader patterns seen in comparisons of the phylogenies of interacting species.

See also these pages

• Newt, banana slug, and flower count graph (opens in a new window).
• Newt maximum viewing is usually in March and April
• How the large slugs create the little slugs. (Marvelous photos - well worth the download time!)
• Articles - Index

Books on Slugs

Field Guide to the Slug Explore the Secret World of Slugs and Their Kin - In Forest, Fields, and Gardens from Southeast Alaska to California, by Western Society of Malacologists, David G. Gordon.

Banana Slug: A Close Look at a Giant Forest Slug of Western North America by Alice Bryant Harper, Daniel Harper (Photographer).

Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

[Thanks for visiting.]

Check our disclaimer. Text Copyright © 2006-2007 by Joan Zimmerman. Photos Copyright © 2006-2007 by Scott Peden. The moral and intellectual property rights to the photos are asserted by Scott Peden. None of the photos referenced on this page may be reproduced without permission of Scott Peden.