 |
|
|
Common Midwife Toad: |
| Author | Message |
|
oldgreygary Member Joined: 01 Nov 2010 No. of posts: 5  View other posts by oldgreygary |
Posted: 01 Nov 2010Hello, |
|
Mark_b Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 No. of posts: 79 View other posts by Mark_b |
Posted: 01 Nov 2010 Britain's Reptiles and Amphibians: A Field Guide, Covering Britain, Ireland and Channel Islands by Howard Inns would be a good start. I'm sure some other forum members will give you more detail soon. 
|
|
Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 02 Nov 2010 Their AmphibiaWeb page has lots of basic information, and there's a collection of articles on Midwife toads in Britain (collected by Paul Benson) here: http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/new/Alytes.zip The usual recommendations for identification are the vertical pupil, their distinctive call, and the enormous tadpole (which often overwinters). Their legal position is interesting- they're a European Protected Species, and so wild-caught animals are illegal to possess under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. However, they're also covered by Schedule 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act, 1981, making it illegal to release them into the wild. |
|
oldgreygary Member Joined: 01 Nov 2010 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by oldgreygary |
Posted: 02 Nov 2010 Hello, Thanks to you both for your replies. Information is very helpful in building up a picture. Cheers for now Gary |
|
j gaughan Senior Member Joined: 04 May 2003 No. of posts: 57 View other posts by j gaughan |
Posted: 03 Nov 2010 The most up to date account i have for this Species in Britain (complete with the key refs) appears in: * Christopher Lever (2009) 'The Naturalized Animals of Britain and Ireland' London: New Holland [210-11, 392, 394] _ this new title being the expanded revision of his * 'The Naturalized Animals of the British Isles' (1977) London: Hutchinson) [379-81, 513, 544] and, including Lever (1977), he lists the following [with my inserts]: * Anon (1997) 'Exotic reptiles and amphibians in the wild: Information and advice on the problems of non-native species in Britain and Ireland' Froglife 1-8 * Beebee TJC & Griffiths RA (2000) 'Amphibians and Reptiles: A Natural History of the British Herpetofauna' London: Harper Collins [193-5] * Blackwell K (1985) 'The Midwife Toad, Alytes obstetricans, in Britain' Bulletin of the BHS 14: 13 * Fitter RSR (1959) 'The Ark in our Midst' London: Collins [273-4] * Frazer JFD (1964) 'Introduced species of amphibians and reptiles in mainland Britain' [BHS] British Journal of Herpetology 3: 145-50 * [Dr Tony] Gent in Poland Bowen C (ed) (2003) 'Return of the Native - the Reintroduction of Native Species back into their Natural Habitats, Conference Proceedings 2001-2002' People's Trust for Endangered Species / Mammals Trust. UK: Lyndhurst * Lever C (1980) 'Naturalized reptiles and amphibians in Britain' Bulletin of the BHS 1: 27-30 * Lever C (1983) 'The golden hamster in the London area' [LNHS] The London Naturalist 62: 111 * Muir-Howe H (2007) The history and current status of the Midwife Toad (Alytes obstetricans) in Britain' V. BHS / HCT Scientific Meeting Bournemouth. BHS Newsletter 155: 3 (Abstract) * Smith M (1949-1950) 'The midwife toad in Britain' [BHS] British Journal of Herpetology 1: 55-56 & 89-91 * Smith M (1951) 'The wall lizard' [BHS] British Journal of Herpetology 1: 99-100 * Taylor RHR (1948) 'The distribution of reptiles and amphibia in the British Isles' [BHS] British Journal of Herpetology 1: 1-25 * Taylor RHR (1963) 'The distribution of amphibians and reptiles' [BHS] British Journal of Herpetology 15: 95-101 that lot should get you going and i've found a number of small but interesting accounts / refs eg. clark (2001) 'Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles of Hertfordshire', details of which i'll post later this week john ARC weald field officer |
|
Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 04 Nov 2010 [QUOTE=j gaughan] * Christopher Lever (2009) 'The Naturalized Animals of Britain and Ireland' London: New Holland ( _being the expanded revision of his * 'The Naturalized Animals of the British Isles' (1977) London: Hutchinson) [/QUOTE] I didn't know this had been updated (though I knew he'd done Naturalized Reptiles and Amphibians of the World; rather too expensive for me). Is there much new in it? |
|
oldgreygary Member Joined: 01 Nov 2010 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by oldgreygary |
Posted: 05 Nov 2010 Thanks John, for the references for information. I have reserved the Christopher Lever book from my local library. The only issue I have with some of these references is that they are not that easy to get hold of. No amount of searching on the internet seems to yield any results. Although with reference to an earlier post some of these documents are contained in the link provided. Cheers for now Gary |
|
j gaughan Senior Member Joined: 04 May 2003 No. of posts: 57 View other posts by j gaughan |
Posted: 08 Nov 2010 no problem there Gary as i've most of those listed there and between myself and Dave Bird (who'll have the rest) should sort you out with photocopies or i can drop material off to you, on short term loan, if in the Surrey / London area ( _ just let me know); more info to follow Caleb, i've only had time to scan through Lever (2009), and, as to be expected after 30 yrs, he has packed a lot more material in _ on Amphibs alone, more than doubling the number of refs in 5 out of 12 Spp covered (with the 5 'water frogs', not unsurprisingly, lumped together with 27) i've summarised his 'Amphibian' coverage in the table below, including my friend Howard Inns book (flagged up by Mark above) thrown in for good measure - remember sales of this one support ARC and the work we continue to do for native herps on the ground (and i, for one, would like to see this extended to certain naturalised Spp, such as the Midwife Toad, in the future) [original table didn't work so simply listed:] 1. Midwife Toad - Lever ('77 & '09), Inns ('09) 2. Yellow-bellied Toad - L ('77 & '09), I('09) 3. Fire-bellied Toad - L ('77 & '09) 4. African Clawed Toad - L ('77 & '09), I ('09) 5. European Tree Frog - L ('77 & '09), I ('09) 6. Pool Frog - L ('09), I ('09) 7. Italian Pool Frog - L ('09) 8. Edible Frog - L ('77 & '09), I ('09) 9. Marsh Frog - L ('77 & '09), I ('09) 10. Southern Marsh Frog or Iberian Water Frog - L ('09), [I ('09)] 11. Painted Frog - L ('77) 12. American Bullfrog - L ('09), I ('09) 13. Italian Crested Newt - [L ('77)], L ('09), I ('09) 14. Marbled Newt - [I ('09)] 15. Fire Salamander - [I ('09)] both authors omitted the following Spp: * Fire-bellied Newt (Japan) * Rain Frog (Australia) * Parsley Frog (France / Spain) which have also survived in a wild state here, the later species in a private garden (and adjoining NR) in SE London and partially alien related albeit an odd one, a herpetologist friend of mine 'suspects' that their may be relic population(s) of the Moor Frog (NW Europe) hidden amongst native Common Frogs in Scotland; itÆs only when you consider the recent British listing of the Pool Frog (Norfolk) that this idea seems more plausible, and in theory, only needs confirming all Scottish æfrog' records are actually ÆtemporariaÆ (and not æarvalisÆ, or for that matter ædalmatinaÆ) _ should give Scottish field workers something to think about . . . john ARC weald field officer |
|
oldgreygary Member Joined: 01 Nov 2010 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by oldgreygary |
Posted: 09 Nov 2010 Thanks John. I have sent a seperate private message with my details if you can photocopy those articles. That would be excellent! Cheers for now Gary |
- Common Midwife Toad |