Midwife toad

Midwife toad Temporal range: 3.6 –0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Pliocene – present[1]
Alytes obstetricans
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Alytidae
Genus:	Alytes Wagler, 1830
Species
Alytes cisternasii Boscá, 1879. Alytes dickhilleni Arntzen et García-París, 1995. Alytes maurus Pasteur et Bons, 1962. Alytes muletensis (Sanchíz et Adrover, 1979). Alytes obstetricans (Laurenti, 1768).

Midwife toads are a genus (Alytes) of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae), and are found in most of Continental Europe and Northwestern Africa. It has also been introduced to Great Britain.^[2] Characteristic of these toad-like frogs is their parental care; the males carry a string of fertilised eggs on their backs, hence the name "midwife". The female expels a strand of eggs, which the male fertilizes externally. He then wraps them around his legs to protect them from predators in the water. When they are ready to hatch, the male wades into shallow water, where he allows the tadpoles to leap out of their eggs. Five separate species of midwife toads are found across western Europe, northern Africa, and Majorca.

Midwife toads can be found in the snows of the Pyrenees, living at heights of 5,000–6,500 feet in areas such as the Néouvielle massif. Unlike the thin tongue of many amphibians, the midwife's tongue is round and flattened; its former family name, Discoglossidae, means "round tongue". In parts of France, midwife toads live in sand dunes by the sea. They share this habitat with natterjack toads.