Alytidae

Alytidae is a family of frogs native mainly to Europe and northwestern Africa. It includes midwife toads and painted frogs, with reproductive and developmental traits that vary across its genera.

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Midwife toad: A frog in the genus Alytes, whose males carry fertilized egg strings wrapped around their hind legs. The best-known alytid genus gives the family its common name.
Amplexus: The mating embrace in which a male frog clasps a female during fertilization. Alytid frogs use this common amphibian mating behavior before eggs are laid.
Alytes obstetricans: The common midwife toad, a western European frog whose males carry egg strings. It is a familiar alytid species used in studies of amphibian disease and ecology.
Bombinatoridae: A frog family containing fire-bellied toads and yellow-bellied toads. It is a related family whose members have different body forms and defensive displays.
Painted frog: A frog in the genus Discoglossus, native to parts of Europe and northwestern Africa. This distinct alytid lineage shares the family with midwife toads.
External fertilization: Fertilization in which sperm and egg unite outside the female’s body. Midwife toads fertilize eggs externally before males carry them.
Discoglossus pictus: The painted frog species native to parts of the western Mediterranean region. Its distribution illustrates the Mediterranean range of painted frogs.
Discoglossidae: A historically used family name for frogs now generally classified within Alytidae. Older classifications separated painted frogs and midwife toads from the current family grouping.
Alytes: A genus of western European frogs known for males carrying egg strings on their hind legs. It contains the species called midwife toads.
Parental care in amphibians: Behaviors by amphibians that protect or provision eggs or young. Egg-carrying by Alytes males is a notable form of amphibian parental care.