The Iberian Ribbed Newt Might Just Have The World’s Most Metal Defense Mechanism

We’ll give ourselves some credit, humans can be pretty hardcore. Doctors performing surgery on themselves, researchers deliberately self-infecting in the name of science – but some of the best examples of badassery come from elsewhere in the animal world. The most metal of them all? Well, that title might just go to the Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl).

Granted, there’s little that can measure up to the horned lizards that shoot blood out of their eyes (yes, you read that correctly), but if anything can, it’s this thing. Also known as the Spanish ribbed newt, this salamander has an equally unique, if slightly gory, defense mechanism.

At first glance, the Iberian ribbed newt’s defense might seem fairly standard fodder for an amphibian; like several species of frogs and toads, its skin has glands that produce toxins. A bit metal? Sure, we’d give it some props. But where the newt really comes into its own is in how that poison is applied.

When under threat, this newt makes its body as flat as possible but swings its ribs forward, putting them at a 50° angle to the spine. This position means the ribs burst through the skin – hence why it’s sometimes called the sharp-ribbed newt – appearing outside the body.

Combining with the secretions produced by the skin, the ribs become poisonous barbs, able to inject an unsuspecting predator with a dose of toxins that, at best, can be irritating, and at worst, lethal.

For the newt, however, 'tis but a flesh wound. Once it’s done giving off horror movie demon vibes, the ribs go back in and the pierced tissue regenerates as though nothing has happened. This whole gory scenario can happen again and again without causing the newt any harm. If that’s not badass, we don’t know what is.

The Time Lord-ish powers of Iberian ribbed newts have, unsurprisingly, attracted the interest of scientists, to the point where their ability to regenerate has even been studied in space. Bit rude how easy it is for them really – we have to be good at math (or absolutely minted) for a space visit. Has a newt ever had to solve for x? I doubt it.

Our jealousy aside, this particular field of research has produced some interesting results. For example, in a series of experiments performed on Russian biosatellites, it was shown that the Iberian ribbed newt’s regenerative capabilities ramped up in microgravity, with a 1.5 to 2-fold increase in cell proliferation.

Ugh, so they're even cooler in space? Some animals really do have it all.