February 2, 2019

What happens to a newt carcass in the rain?

Today it was raining heavily. I noticed that the newts' outer brown layer of skin (epidermis?) peels off more quickly when it's raining or in wet road conditions. See the following observations for many examples of this:

https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/2/2

Also, there were a lot of long twisted yellow remains (many without head, tail, or appendages). I wonder where the other body parts are? On car tires?

See the following project for more information on how to differentiate new vs. aged newt roadkill (for the purpose of obtaining an accurate death count):

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-decomp-study-lexington-reservoir-area

See the following umbrella project for more information about the massive roadkill problem at Lexington Reservoir:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-all-lexington-reservoir-area

Posted on February 3, 2019 10:24 AM by truthseqr