{"id":679148,"date":"2026-09-08T20:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T20:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/679148\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T20:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T20:36:35","slug":"its-ribs-stretch-the-skin-to-the-point-that-they-burst-right-through-it-producing-a-row-of-barbs-that-inject-poison-into-any-predator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/679148\/","title":{"rendered":"Its ribs stretch the skin to the point that they burst right through it, producing a row of barbs that inject poison into any predator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A good ribbing can defuse many potential conflicts. However, the recipients of a are unlikely to see the funny side.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When threatened by a predator, the Spanish ribbed newt Pleurodeles waltl takes spectacular offensive action. Not only does it exude a milky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/most-poisonous-animals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">poisonous<\/a> fluid from glands in its skin, it also has the perfect apparatus to administer it.<\/p>\n<p>The Spanish ribbed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/lizard-vs-newt-whats-the-difference\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">newt<\/a> \u2013 also known as the Iberian ribbed newt \u2013 has orange spots along its flanks, through which its ribs can protrude.<\/p>\n<p>By flattening its body and arching its back, the newt swings its ribs forwards so that they are perpendicular to its spine. The ribs stretch the skin to the point that they burst right through it, producing a row of barbs down each flank that inject the poison into any predator foolish enough to venture too close.<\/p>\n<p>Once the danger has passed, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/amphibian-vs-reptile-whats-the-difference\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">amphibian<\/a> simply pops its ribs back inside its body. And thanks to newts&#8217; famous powers of regeneration, Pleurodeles waltl can puncture its skin repeatedly, with apparently no ill effects.<\/p>\n<p>Where are Spanish ribbed newts found?<\/p>\n<p>Spanish ribbed newts are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/amphibians-of-the-british-isles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">amphibians<\/a> found in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/holidays-days-out\/europe\/wildlife-travel-what-animals-can-i-see-in-spain\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spain<\/a>, Portugal and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/holidays-days-out\/reader-holidays\/wildlife-watching-in-morocco\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Morocco<\/a>, usually in mud or among stones in ponds and lakes.<\/p>\n<p>Self-mutilation as defence<\/p>\n<p>Another amphibian that uses self-mutilation as defence against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/hunting-success-rates-how-predators-compare\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">predators<\/a> is one of the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/wirdest-frogss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> weirdest frogs in the world<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/hairy-frog\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hairy frog<\/a> Trichobatrachus robustus, which is able to disconnect sharp bones in its toes from the rest of its foot and thrust them through its toe-pads to form an offensive weapon not unlike a cat&#8217;s claw.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More wildlife stories:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A good ribbing can defuse many potential conflicts. However, the recipients of a are unlikely to see the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[18,19,17,133,461],"class_list":["post-679148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117237342989770135","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}