Mallorcan Midwife Toad

Mallorcan Midwife Toad

One of the world's strangest animals, the Mallorcan midwife toad, has been rescued from the brink of extinction. The success provides conservationists with a rare boost to their hopes that amphibians - whose numbers are decliningalarmingly across the world - can saved from oblivion.Researchers based at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey announced last week that the toad had been removed from biologists' 'critically endangered' category: it is now rated as merely 'vulnerable'. 'This incredible little toad was once thought extinct. Today it's on the road to survival,' said Quentin Bloxam, the trust's programme director.The Mallorcan midwife was originally thought to have gone extinct several thousand years ago. Scientists knew of its existence only from fossils found in Mallorca. Then, in 1980, they found living samples in the island's Sierra de Traumuntana mountains.                                                                               Read More>>>