Midwife toads are a genus (Alytes) of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae), and are found in most of Continental Europe and Northwestern Africa.

[2] Characteristic of these toad-like frogs is their parental care; the males carry a string of fertilised eggs on their backs, hence the name "midwife".

Midwife toads can be found in the snows of the Pyrenees, living at heights of 5,000–6,500 feet in areas such as the Néouvielle massif.

During the day, midwife toads hide under stones and logs or in tunnels, often in dry, sandy soil, which is easier to dig into using their forelegs and snouts.

The toad uses the end of its long, sticky tongue to pick up prey, including beetles, crickets, flies, caterpillars, centipedes, ants, and millipedes.

It has evolved to have a flatter body, which enables the toad to squeeze into narrow crevices in the rocks of its habitat.

Apoptosis, programmed cell death, was first observed in the developing of the tadpoles of the midwife toads 1842 by Carl Vogt.