Alytes maurus Pasteur and Bons, 1962

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Alytidae > Genus: Alytes > Species: Alytes maurus

Alytes obstetricans maurus Pasteur and Bons, 1962, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 87: 71. Holotype: MNHNP 5960, by original designation. Type locality: "Talass n 'Tane (Rif près de Bab-Taza)", Morocco.

Alytes (Alytes) obstetricans maurus — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 12; Llorente, Montori, Santos, and Carretero, 1995, Atlas Amf. Rept. Catalunya Andorra: 59. 

Alytes (Baleaphryne) maurus — Donaire-Barroso and Bogaerts, 2003, Butll. Soc. Catalana Herpetol., 16: 25; Martínez-Solano, Gonçalves, Arntzen, and García-París, 2004, J. Biogeograph., 31: 610.

Common Names

Moroccan Midwife Toad (Beukema, de Pous, Donaire-Barroso, Bogaerts, Garcia-Porta, Escoriza, Arribas, El Mouden, and Carranza, 2013, Zootaxa, 3661: 31). 

Distribution

Western and central Rif and nearby Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco, 200–2050 m elevation; reported from Hafir Forest, extreme northwestern coastal Algeria, although this requires confirmation (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Algeria, Morocco

Comment

Treated as a subspecies of Alytes obstetricans (and comcomitantly imbedded in that literature) until suggested to be possibly a distinct species by Llorente, Montori, Santos, and Carretero, 1995, Atlas Amf. Rept. Catalunya Andorra: 59; this was subsequently formalized and substantiated by Donaire-Barroso and Bogaerts, 2003, Butll. Soc. Catalana Herpetol., 16: 25–140 (who provided an extensive account), and Martínez-Solano, Gonçalves, Arntzen, and García-París, 2004, J. Biogeograph., 31: 610. Donaire-Barroso, El Mouden, Slimani, and González de la Vega, 2006, Herpetol. Bull., London, 96: 12–14, discussed the distribution. See statement of geographic range, habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 614–615. Márquez, Beltrán, Slimani, Radi, Llusia, and El Mouden, 2011, Alytes, 27: 142–150, described the advertisement call. Reques, Pleguezuelos, Busack, and de Pous, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 23–50, discussed the range and conservation status in Morocco. Mateo, Géniez, and Pether, 2013, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 27: 51–83, provided a range map and comments on the range and population status in Algeria (although noting that this population is likely extinct due to chytrid fungus). Beukema, de Pous, Donaire-Barroso, Bogaerts, Garcia-Porta, Escoriza, Arribas, El Mouden, and Carranza, 2013, Zootaxa, 3661: 31–33, provided an account. de Pous, Metallinou, Donaire-Barroso, Carranza, and Sanuy, 2013, Herpetol. J., 23: 153–160, reported on molecular phylogeography and ecological niche modelling. Mediani, Brito, and Fahd, 2015, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 29: 81–107, provided a dot map for northern Morocco. See detailed account by Escoriza and Ben Hassine, 2019, Amph. N. Afr.: 114–120. Channing and Rödel, 2019, Field Guide Frogs & Other Amph. Afr.: 38–39, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. See Dufresnes, 2019, Amph. Eur., N. Afr., & Middle East: 34, for brief summary of range, identifying morphology, and biology as well as a photograph. Mabrouki, Taybi, Skalli, and Sánchez-Vialas, 2019, Basic & Appl. Herpetol., 33: 19–32, commented on and mapped the species in the Mouloua River Basin in eastern Morocco.     

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