MIDWIFE TOAD

(Alytes obstetricans), slow-moving, terrestrial amphibian (family Discoglossidae) found in western Europe and noted for the breeding behaviour of the species. The midwife toad is about five centimetres (two inches) long and plump, with warty, dull-gray skin. It mates on land and breeds throughout the spring and summer. The midwife toad is nocturnal and thoroughly terrestrial. Toward evening the males reveal their presence by a clear whistling note. Mating takes place on land; the male seizes the female around the waist and stimulates her cloacal region with his toes until the eggs are forcibly expelled. The eggs are large and yellow, and produced in two rosarylike strands of gelatinous capsules. While the eggs are being extruded, the male positions himself and discharges milt (sperm-containing fluid) over them to effect fertilization. This having been accomplished, the male twists the egg strings around his legs and returns to his usual retreat, resorting to a short immersion in the water during exceptionally dry nights. When the time for hatching has come, after about three weeks, the male enters the water; the larvae, measuring slightly over a half inch, bite their way through their tough envelope, which is not abandoned by the father until all the young are liberated.