African clawed frog

Xenopus laevis · The African clawed frog lives in Sub-Saharan Africa and has also been introduced to North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Also called African clawed toad, Platanna, Common platanna, Clawed Toad, Common Clawed Frog.

African clawed frog
Photo: Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0
African clawed frog
Photo: I, KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0
African clawed frog
Photo: Otofrog, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAmphibia
OrderAnura
FamilyPipidae
GenusXenopus
SpeciesXenopus laevis

Where it lives

Ponds and streams south of the Sahara, especially the far south; invasive elsewhere.

Fun facts

  • When drought dries up their ponds, clawed frogs can burrow into the mud and stay dormant for up to a year.
  • Clawed frogs have no tongue, so they grab food with their hands and shovel it into their mouths.
  • These frogs shed their skin every season and then eat it.
  • The first vertebrate ever cloned was an African clawed frog, back in 1962.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).