Betic Midwife Toad

Betic Midwife Toad
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Discoglossidae
Genus:	Alytes
Species:	A. dickhilleni
Binomial name
Alytes dickhilleni Arntzen & García Paris, 1995

The Betic Midwife Toad or Sapo Partero Bético (Alytes dickhilleni) is a species of frog in the Discoglossidae family. It is endemic to Spain. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, pastureland, ponds, and aquaculture ponds. It is threatened by habitat loss.

On January 21, 2008, Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE), per chief Helen Meredith identified nature's most weird, wonderful and endangered amphibians: "The EDGE amphibians are amongst the most remarkable and unusual species on the planet and yet an alarming 85% of the top 100 are receiving little or no conservation attention." The top 10 endangered species (in this List of endangered animal species) include: the Chinese giant salamander, a distant relative of the newt, the tiny Gardiner's Seychelles frog, the limbless Sagalla caecilian, South African ghost frogs, lungless Mexican salamanders, the Malagasy rainbow frog, Chile's Darwin frog (Rhinoderma rufum) and the Betic Midwife Toad.^[1][2][3][4]

References

• Bosch, J., Tejedo, M., Lizana, M., Martínez-Solano, I., Salvador, A., García-París, M., Gil, E.R. & Arntzen, J.W. 2004. Alytes dickhilleni. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 July 2007.

References

1. ^ Reuters, Giant newt, tiny frog identified as most at risk
2. ^ guardian.co.uk, Drive to save weird and endangered amphibians
3. ^ guardian.co.uk/environment, images of the species
4. ^ guardian.co.uk/environment, Gallery: the world's strangest amphibians