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Midwife Toad 

                        MIDWIFE TOAD, common name for a small, terrestrial amphibian in the order of
                        frogs and toads. It is called midwife toad because the male helps to care for the
                        eggs by carrying them on its back. It is about 5 cm (about 2 in) long, and is found in
                        western Europe. Unlike other toads and frogs, which deposit their eggs directly in
                        water, the female midwife toad lays its eggs in a burrow on land. During the release
                        of the eggs, the male entangles the strands of 20 to 60 fertilized eggs about his
                        thighs. Periodically emerging from the burrow to moisten the eggs, the male
                        deposits the eggs in water after 20 to 50 days. 

                        The midwife toad was the subject of controversial experiments by the Austrian
                        biologist Paul Kammerer (1880?1926). Kammerer tried but failed to produce
                        conclusive evidence that acquired traits can be inherited, a hypothesis in opposition
                        to modern hereditary theory.
 

 
COMMON NAME FAMILY GENUS AND SPECIES
Midwife Toad Discoglossidae Alytes obstetricans