Midwife toad
The midwife toad is a unique amphibian known for its intriguing reproductive behavior, particularly the males' role in caring for the offspring. Males assist females by carrying fertilized eggs, resembling small marbles, on their backs until they are ready to hatch. This species possesses poisonous warts on their backs, which serve as a defense mechanism against predators, while the tadpoles remain vulnerable without these warts. Midwife toads generally grow to about 2 inches long and are nocturnal, foraging for food such as insects and small invertebrates at night after hiding during the day.
The life cycle of a midwife toad includes metamorphosis from a tadpole to an adult in about eight months, with mating typically occurring in May. Although their average lifespan ranges from five to eight years, certain species, like the Betic, Moroccan, and Majorcan midwife toads, are currently endangered. These toads hibernate during the winter months and exhibit a diet that categorizes them as either carnivorous or insectivorous. Their distinctive behaviors and characteristics make the midwife toad a fascinating subject for further exploration.
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Midwife toad
Midwife toads are called midwives because the male helps the female in giving birth. A midwife is a person who helps a woman give birth. Male midwife toads help their mates by carrying the eggs on their backs until they are ready to hatch. Midwife toads also have poisonous warts on their backs. The poison from these warts can kill an adder snake in just a few hours.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Alytidae
Genus: Alytes
Species: Various (see below)
A midwife toad begins its life in a small bead-like egg, about the size and shape of a marble, stuck to one of its father's hind legs. In this egg, the toad grows and develops from a tiny organism into a fully grown tadpole. When the 60 eggs on the male's hind legs hatch three to six weeks later, he places his hind legs into the water at a shallow edge. The 1 1/2-inch (three-centimeter) tadpoles burst out of their eggs and swim into the water.
These young midwife toads look very different from their parents. They each have a long tail which helps them swim, a large head, and small legs. Over the first eight months of their lives, they change, or metamorphose, into adults. Their legs grow larger to balance the size of their heads and their tails grow shorter and shorter until they are completely gone. This whole process of mating and changing begins in May each year when midwife toads mate. It ends a little over a year later, during the summer, with a new batch of fully grown midwife toads hopping along the ground. Midwife toads generally grow to about 2 inches (5 centimeters) long and reach maturity after two to three years.
The average day of a midwife toad consists mainly of hiding under stones or logs or in burrows, or underground tunnels. They often hide in dry, sandy soil which is easy to dig through. At night, these toads come out of their hiding places to find food. This lifestyle of sleeping during the day and being active at night is known as being nocturnal.
When midwife toads crawl out of their hiding places to find food they search for prey such as beetles, crickets, flies, caterpillars, centipedes, and millipedes. This diet makes them carnivorous (meat-eating) or insectivorous (insect-eating). Either classification is correct. Midwife toads use their long, sticky, rounded tongues to pick up their prey. Tadpole midwife toads feed mainly on aquatic, or water-living, plant life.
Midwife toads are often threatened by snakes and birds of prey. To protect themselves, midwife toads have small poisonous warts across their backs. These warts help protect them against enemies and help protect the eggs as well. Tadpole midwife toads do not have these poisonous warts, and therefore, fall prey to such creatures as fish and large aquatic insects. Adult midwife toads also call out ringing noises. These sounds often alert predators of the location of midwife toads.
During the winter, midwife toads stay in their holes or burrows. This is called hibernating, or resting through the cold months. When they come out of hibernation, it is almost time for mating again.
The betic midwife toad (Alytes dickhilleni), Moroccan midwife toad (Alytes maurus), and Majorcan midwife toad (Alytes muletensis) are endangered.
Midwife toads have an average lifespan of five to eight years.
Bibliography
Albert, Jacquelyn. "Alytes Obstetricans." Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Alytes‗obstetricans. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Alytidae - Midwife Toads, Painted Frogs." PBS, nhpbs.org/wild/Alytidae.asp. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Betic Midwife Toad." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, www.iucnredlist.org/species/979/89697540. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Moroccan Midwife Toad." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, www.iucnredlist.org/species/55267/178748090. Accessed 1 May 2024.