ALYTES, a genus of batrachians of which the best known is the midwife toad, Alytes obstetricans, two inches in length, of dull greyish coloration, plump form with warty skin and large eyes. Although toad-like it belongs to another family, Disco glossidae. It inhabits most of western Europe. A second species, A. cisternasii, occurs also in Spain and Portugal.
Alytes is nocturnal and slow in its movements. It is thoroughly terrestrial. Towards evening it reveals its presence by a clear whistling note. The breeding season lasts throughout spring and summer, and the female spawns two, three or even four times in the year. Pairing and oviposition take place on land; the male seizes the female round the waist. The eggs are large and yel low, and produced in two rosary-like strings, as if strung together by elastic filaments continuous with the gelatinous capsules. After impregnation, the male twists them round his legs and returns to his usual retreat, resorting to a short immersion in the water during exceptionally dry nights. When the time for hatch ing has come, after about three weeks, the male enters the water; the larvae, measuring 14 to 17 millimetres, bite their way through their tough envelope, which is not abandoned by the father until all the young are liberated. The tadpoles grow to a large size before metamorphosis. (See LAMARCKISM.) See R. Lydekker, J. T. Cunningham, G. A. Boulenger and J. A. Thomson, Reptiles, Amphibia, Fish and Lower Chordata (1912) .