The Majorcan midwife toad (''Alytes muletensis'') (also Mallorcan midwife toad or ferreret in

Balearic Catalan Balearic ( ca, balear) is the collective name for the dialects of Catalan spoken in the Balearic Islands: in Mallorca, in Ibiza and in Menorca. At the last census, 746,792 people in the Balearic Islands claimed to be able to speak Catalan, th ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

) is a

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

in the family

Alytidae The Alytidae are a family of primitive frogs. Their common name is painted frogs or midwife toads. Most are endemic to Europe, but three species occur in northwest Africa, and a species formerly thought to be extinct is found in Israel. This fam ...

(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 else ...

to the

Balearic Island The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

of Majorca in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. An example of

Lazarus taxon In paleontology, a Lazarus taxon (plural ''taxa'') is a taxon that disappears for one or more periods from the fossil record, only to appear again later. Likewise in conservation biology and ecology, it can refer to species or populations tha ...

, the species was first described from fossil remains in 1977, but living animals were discovered in 1979. The species, considered "vulnerable" by the IUCN, is currently restricted to isolated mountain rivers in the island's Serra de Tramuntana and has an estimated population of 500 breeding pairs in the wild. It does exist and reproduce easily in captivity, however. The Majorcan midwife toad is thought to have disappeared from most of the island as a result of the

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

of competitors and predators from the mainland in ancient times. Reintroduction of the species in additional areas has taken place since 1988, with many new breeding populations now well established.

Characteristics

Like all

midwife toad Midwife toads are a genus (''Alytes'') of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae), and are found in most of Europe and northwestern Africa. Characteristic of these toad-like frogs is their parental care; the males carry a string o ...

s, the male of the species always carries the developing

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

during the months of May and June. Generally the head and legs are large in comparison to the rest of the body. Unusually, the female of the species competes for the male, even grappling against other individuals in order to secure a mate. Both male and female frogs use a series of noises in order to attract a mate during

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

. Comparatively the female is larger than the male (Male: 34.7 mm, Female: 38 mm).

Distribution

The species is endemic to Majorca, and is found only in the mountainous regions and gorges of the Serra de Tramuntana. In this area, the species inhabits streams in limestone caverns, where they hide under boulders and stones.

Status

The Majorcan midwife toad was first discovered in 1977 and was described as ''Baleaphryne muletensis.'' Only later the toad was accounted as a midwife toad. This was due to the fact that the species was thought extinct and was described from the fossil record. Later the species was 'rediscovered' in 1979 when froglets and young frogs were discovered. Currently the species is protected as a Majorcan endemic species, and breeding programs have been started to prevent the extinction of this species. The number of wild animals is estimated at around 300 to 700 breeding pairs. It was previously housed and bred at the

Durrell Wildlife Park Jersey Zoo (formerly Durrell Wildlife Park) is a zoological park established in 1959 on the island of Jersey in the English Channel by naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell (1925–1995). It is operated by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. ...

, with the goal of releasing into the wild, which was successful.

References

External links

*Amphibia Web http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?query_src=aw_maps_geo-euro&where-genus=Alytes&where-species=muletensis&rel-genus=equals&rel-species=equals (Accessed August 21, 2012) *Encyclopedia of Life http://eol.org/pages/1039071/details (Accessed August 21, 2012) *Arkive https://web.archive.org/web/20120825083227/http://www.arkive.org/mallorcan-midwife-toad/alytes-muletensis/ (Accessed August 21, 2012) {{Taxonbar, from=Q61523 Alytes Endemic fauna of the Balearic Islands Fauna of Mallorca Amphibians of Europe Amphibians described in 1977