Clawed Frog

Xenopus sp.

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Where is it found?

Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and wetlands like bogs.

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Diet and foraging method

Scavenging and active hunting- uses sensitive fingers and sense of smell to detect prey in the water, sucks food into its mouth.

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Key adaptations

Xenopus frogs have smooth, slippery skin for breathing through as they live almost their entire life in the water. They have large, fully webbed toes for swimming, with claws on for tearing apart food.

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Social organisation and mating system

Solitary

Males call and females respond with different calls to accept or reject the mating, or the female calls to advertise herself when she is ready to lay eggs and the male joins in the call. There is some evidence of polyandry.

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Did you know that...?

Xenopus frogs are some of the only species where the males and females both emit mating calls. This is thought to be because they inhabit murky ponds and mate at night, so they rely on sounds rather than sight to find each other.

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Taxonomy

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Picture credits:

"AfricanClawedFrog XenopusLaevis" by Ltshears - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AfricanClawedFrog_XenopusLaevis.jpg#/media/File:AfricanClawedFrog_XenopusLaevis.jpg