Mallorcan Midwife Toad
Adult toads have an exceptionally large head in relation to their bodies and long legs in comparison to other toads. Their skin is golden brown and their large eyes are also golden, with a vertical, narrow shaped pupil. Their skin is patterned with greeny, brown, sometimes black blotches and they have whitish underbellies. Commonly, they have a black triangle marking between their eyes. There is little difference in appearance between males and females.
What they eat
Beetles, crickets, flies, centipedes, millipedes. Tadpoles feed on vegetation.
How long they live
About seven years.
Biology
With Mallorcan Midwife Toads it is the females of the species who compete with each other for the attention of males at mating times. As with all Midwife Toad species, it is the males who carry the developing eggs until the tadpoles hatch. Once the female has laid them, the male carries the string of pearl like eggs wrapped around his ankles in bundles. He carries between seven and 12 eggs from late spring to early summer. The earliest tadpoles hatch from May. They can metamorphose into toads between June and September, but commonly remain as tadpoles over winter until hatching the following spring. Males attract females by emitting a high pitched ‘pinking’ noise which sounds a bit like a hammer hitting an anvil. This call gives rises to their Mallorcan common name, ‘Ferreret’, which means little iron worker’.
Did you know?
Researchers believed the Mallorcan Midwife Toad had been extinct for thousands of years until a colony was discovered on Mallorca in 1980.
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Species Profile
Common name
Mallorcan Midwife Toad
Scientific name
Alytes muletensis
Animal group/type
Amphibian – toad
Where they live
Mallorca – Gorges in the Sierra Tramuntana mountains.
Habitat
Brooks, limestone gorges, crevices and stone crops.
Size
Up to 38mm.
Conservation status (IUCN Red List)
Vulnerable (listed as Critically Endangered until 2004, but down listed as a result of the ongoing conservation programme for the species).
Threats
Predators introduced to the island by humans, such as the Viperine Snake and Green Frog.
Competition for food with the Green Frog.
Irrigation and damning schemes which put the toad’s habitat at risk.
Chytrid Fungus; the fatal amphibian disease, which reached the island in 2006.