Provence amphibian: common midwife toad

By /
FRANÇAIS

Common midwife toad: illustrated description

common midwife toad eggs illustration

Reproduction

  • The male common midwife toad helps the female common midwife toad while birthing eggs by massaging her belly with his hind legs, hence its name.
  • It generally lives by a permanent pond, as it needs to moisten the eggs it carries around on the top of his hind legs for 3 weeks during the breeding season.
common midwife toad eyes illustration

Overview

  • It walks and rarely jumps (unlike frogs).
  • The common midwife toad is a good climber.
  • The common midwife toad loves hot, dry weathers, hence its presence in Provence (South of France).
  • The common midwife toad preferably eats small invertebrates:
    • arthropods (spiders, insects, centipedes, etc.),
    • worms,
    • molluscs.

Physical features

  • Small & sturdy
  • This is a toad. Therefore it is larger / bigger than a frog. This is the case of the common midwife toad (size: from 4 to 6 cm)
  • Short head
  • Short hindlimbs
  • Dorso-lateral fold (on each side)
  • The common midwife toad has vertical pupils.
  • Its iris is golden.

Common midwife toad: scientific classification

  • Domain: biota
  • Kingdom: animalia
  • Phylum: chordata
  • Class: amphibia
  • Order: anura
  • Family: alytidae
  • Genus: alytes
  • Species: Alytes obstetricans
Sources:
- LPO (wildlife protection league) training (April 2024)
Many thanks to Robin LHUILLIER, regional naturalist training manager at the LPO of Provence (wildlife protection league), for the quality of his training on the amphibians of Provence.

- "Guide des amphibiens d'Europe" d'A. & C. NÖLLERT, publisher: Delachaux et Niestlé (book in French)
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