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It is the male that is occupied exclusively with the incubation of the eggs and well deserves the midwifery qualification given to it by zoologists: Alytes obstetricans. This small-sized toad is distinguished neither by appearance nor colouring - it is its habits that are interesting. Completely unlike other frogs and toads that mate and reproduce in the water in the spring, the midwife toad performs these functions on land. Its way of life is very secretive and it normally keeps itself buried in wet sand, emerging when night falls in order to find the insects and small mollusks on which it feeds. The most curious aspect of this life under the sand is that while it is buried the toad 'sings', and its pleasant voice, resembling the ringing of a small bell, can be heard without one being able to discover where it comes from.
The skin of the midwife toad is very poisonous and the mucous that keeps it continually moist can kill a mouse or even an adder by simple contact. This venom is quite harmless to man, as long as one avoids rubbing the eyes after having held a toad in one's hand. Its lifespan is only up to five years, with an adult length of 4 to 5 centimeters.
During mating, the male holds the female clasped in its front feet, whilst massaging the female from blows from its back feet. The eggs are fertilized when they appear and the male winds the strings of eggs around its back legs. Each strung of eggs has from 20 to 100 eggs and the incubation is 24 to 44 days. Frequently dampening them in the water of small pools or puddles, it will walk around with them like this until they hatch.
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