March 12, 2011
Bangkok (AFP) - From America to Australia, toads and frogs succumb massively to a fungus that has become widespread in the Pyrenees. According to scientists, man could have spread the fungus when using frogs massively for research.
Midwife toads represented by four species of the genus Alytes (family Discoglossidae) are approximately 5-centimetres (2-inches) long, with dull-grey, watery skin (as cited at http://www.britannica.com).
Hereditary characteristics can be passed on to one's offspring according to a modern scientific theory. However, a theory called Lamarckianism held that evolutionary change could happen (as cited at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com).
An Austrian scientist named Paul Kammerer conducted an experiment during the 1920s to prove Lamarckian inheritance was possible. Midwife toads were used to explain how the evolutionary change took place.
Midwife toads are earthly, slow-moving ambphibians. The European toads often live near streams, ponds or in the forests. The best known species is A. obstetricans.
Known as nocturnal animals, male toads use a clear whistling note to reveal their presence. Mating taking place in spring and summer, occuring on land. The eggs are yellow and large.
Female toads produce eggs while male toads carry fertilized eggs on their back. This is why the toad-like frogs are called "midwife" toads, according to wikipedia website.
To protect eggs from predators in the water, male toads wrap them around their legs and wade into shallow water when it comes to hatching.
There are five different species of midwife toad. Found across western Europe, norhern Africa and Majorca, midwife toads also live at the height of 5,000-6,000 feet in the snows of the Pyrenees. Their tongue is flat and round unlike other kinds of amphibians.
In some areas of France, midwife toads live in the sand dunes by the sea, sharing this locality with natterjack toads, according to wikipedia website.
