Common midwife toad

A devoted father

The common midwife toad is a small, stout amphibian only a few centimetres long, with grey-brown warty skin and large eyes with vertical pupils. Its name comes from an extraordinary breeding behaviour, rare in the amphibian world: after mating, it is the male that takes charge of the eggs. The females lay strings of eggs that the males wrap around their hind legs, carrying them for weeks on land until they are ready to hatch.

Habitat and distribution

It lives in western Europe, from Portugal and Spain to Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and parts of the United Kingdom. It frequents varied habitats — hills, scree, gardens, quarries — as long as there are pools or small bodies of water for the larval stage and damp hiding places to shelter in by day.

Behaviour and parental care

It is nocturnal and ground-dwelling. The male, carrying the eggs, protects them from aquatic predators and fungi and keeps them moist; when the tadpoles are ready, he goes to water and releases them. The male's call is a fluting, repeated whistle, like the sound of a small bell, ringing out on spring and summer evenings. It feeds on insects and other small invertebrates.

Curiosities

The midwife toad's paternal care has fascinated scientists since the nineteenth century. The case became famous in biology through a scientific controversy over the inheritance of acquired traits, now settled. Despite its small size, the midwife toad can live several years.

Conservation

The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern, but some populations are declining due to the loss of wetlands, pollution and fungal diseases affecting amphibians.