Newt

Today in toxicology we learned about marine toxins including a toxin named tetrodotoxin. Poisoning from this toxin is usually found in the Indo-Pacific region and epidemics are frequent in Japan. That is because the toxin can be found in puffer fish, a delicacy there. Interestingly it is also found in the rough-skinned newt.

This little guy is a native to Oregon and can easily be found here. My professor told us that there were several police reported incidents where there had been a bar bet for some drunk guy to swallow the newt and then the man would be found 10-15 minutes later dead in his car. Yep! You guessed it, the drunks killed themselves.