The

Betic BETIC (Biomedical Engineering and Technology (incubation) Centre) based at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is an inter-disciplinary multi-institution initiative for medical device innovation. Established in 2014 with support from the govern ...

midwife toad or Sapo Partero Bético (''Alytes dickhilleni'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Alytidae The Alytidae are a family (biology), family of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are Endemism, endemic to Europe, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct i ...

(formerly Discoglossidae). It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to mountainous in south eastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are temperate

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes, pastureland,

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s, and aquaculture ponds. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

The Betic midwife toad is grey, finely mottled with dark and pale specks. Its length may be about and it has bulging eyes with vertical slit pupils. There is a distinctive grey area between the eyes and the

parotoid gland The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collective ...

s are relatively small. There is a lateral line of whitish glandular tubercles on the body but an absence of the orange glandular spots found in other members of the genus.

Distribution and habitat

The Betic midwife toad is native to the

Sierra Nevada Mountains The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Cars ...

in south eastern Spain. The population is fragmented as different mountains support separate populations. It is fairly common on Alcaraz, Segura and Cazorla Mountains but less common on the drier Filabres, Baza and Gádor peaks. It is generally found in oak and pine forests and in open rocky areas, mostly on limestone, at altitudes between . In drier parts it tends to be near springs.

Biology

The Betic midwife toad is nocturnal and hides under rocks and in crevices during the day. The toads mate on land and the male coils the egg mass round his hind legs and carries it around until the developing tadpoles are ready to hatch. He then deposits them in suitable water bodies such as mountain streams, cattle troughs and reservoirs. The tadpoles are slow-growing and may overwinter before undergoing

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

into juvenile frogs.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists this toad as endangered as its numbers appear to be in decline. The main threats it faces are the diminution in the number of suitable breeding sites due to drought, water abstraction and changes in agricultural practices. It is also at risk from the fungal disease

chytridiomycosis Chytridiomycosis ( ) is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi ''Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' and ''Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans''. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extincti ...

. On January 21, 2008, Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE), per chief Helen Meredith identified nature's most weird, wonderful and

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

amphibians Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

: "The EDGE amphibians are amongst the most remarkable and unusual species on the planet and yet an alarming 85% of the top 100 are receiving little or no conservation attention." The top 10 endangered species (in this

List of endangered animal species On 19 August 2018, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 4584 endangered species, subspecies, stocks and subpopulations. Annelida Clitellata Megadrilaceae =Megascolecidae= =Moniligastridae= Opisthopora =Octochaetidae= Art ...

) include: the

Chinese giant salamander The Chinese giant salamander (''Andrias davidianus'') is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world.newt A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...

, the tiny Gardiner's Seychelles frog, the limbless Sagalla caecilian,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n ghost frogs, lungless Mexican salamanders, the Malagasy rainbow

Chile Darwin's frog The Chile Darwin's frog (''Rhinoderma rufum''), also called the northern Darwin's frog, is one of only two members of the family Rhinodermatidae. It is endemic to central Chile, although it might well be extinct. Description The Chile Darwin's ...

and the Betic midwife toad.Ian Sample (21 January 2008
guardian.co.uk, Drive to save weird and endangered amphibians
Guardian. Retrieved on 2013-01-02.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q250533 Alytes Amphibians described in 1995 Amphibians of Europe Endemic fauna of Spain Endemic amphibians of the Iberian Peninsula Taxonomy articles created by Polbot