midwife toad

English

Alytes obstetricans, male with eggs

Wikispecies

Etymology

Refers to the males' behaviour of carrying fertilised eggs on their backs.

Noun

midwife toad (plural midwife toads)

1. Any species of the genus Alytes, the males of which carry fertilised eggs on their backs.

   Synonym: obstetric toad

   • 1996, Trevor Beebee, Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians, page 168:

     Fossils suggest that midwife toads were once widespread on Majorca and Menorca, but disappeared from lowlands of the former and entirely from the latter island several thousand years ago and coincident with the fossil appearance of the snake Natrix maura and the large frog Rana perezi.

   • 1997, John T. Burns, Cosmic Influences on Humans, Animals, and Plants: An Annotated Bibliography, page 195:

     A key preserved male specimen of the midwife toad was eventually shown to have been injected with India ink in the region of the normally pigmented nuptial pad.

   • 2011, John P. Rafferty, editor, Reptiles and Amphibians, page 218:

     The midwife toad is a slow-moving, terrestrial amphibian represented by four species of the genus Alytes (family Discoglossidae). The best-known species is A. obstetricans.