California Reptiles & Amphibians

Xenopus laevis - African Clawed Frog

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Introduced Range: Red

Dot-locality range map

Listen to this frog:

One short call
(© Carlos Davidson)

More sounds of
Xenopus laevis

Introduced - not native to California

Adult and Juvenile, Orange County
© 2004 William Flaxington

Juvenile, Orange County
© 2004 William Flaxington

Captive Adult in aquarium

Captive Adults © William Leonard

Adult, Los Angeles County © Todd Battey

Habitat, San Diego County

Habitat, Los Angeles County
© Todd Battey

Habitat, Orange County

Description

Size

Adults are 2 - 5 5/8 inches long from snout to vent (5.1 - 14.3 cm).

Appearance

A smooth-skinned frog with a flattened body and a small head with a blunt snout and small upturned eyes with no lids. Olive to brown above, with dark markings. Whitish below, sometimes spotted. No tongue. Forefeet are unwebbed. Hind feet are fully webbed with sharp black claws on the inner toes. Tadpole is translucent with tentacles at the mouth corners and a slender tail ending in a filament.

Voice (Listen)

A 2-part trill, about 1/2 second, repeated up to 100 times per minute. Males have no vocal sacs and call from underwater during the day and at night. Calls are only faintly heard in the air.

Behavior

Totally aquatic, but will move over land on rainy nights. When not feeding, rests on the bottom or on rocks. Tadpoles swim head down, vibrating the tail filament to stir up food. Studied widely. Has been observed tolerating a wide range of conditions, including 40 percent seawater, freezing water, hot desert conditions, long periods without food, and estivating without water.

Diet

Feeds on anything it can catch; aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, including its own larvae and recent metamorphs.

Reproduction

In California, breeds from January to November with a peak in April and May, producing multiple clutches. Several hundred eggs are laid singly or in groups on vegetation and rocks, then hatch in 3 to 4 days. Tadpoles congregate in pools.

Range

Originally native to South Africa. Brought to the US in the 1940's and widely used as a standard amphibian for laboratory study and human pregnancy testing. A popular aquarium pet, now banned in several states including California. Escaped laboratory animals and released pets were introduced into California primarily before being banned in the 1960s, but has been recently introduced into a small pond in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

Introduced in California primarily in San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles counties, but has also been found elsewhere, including San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Imperial, Kern, Ventura, Yolo and San Francisco counties.

Habitat

In California, inhabits standing water, slow streams and drains, marshes, ponds. Inhabits waters in arid and semi-arid regions in its native South Africa.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

A threat to native amphibians and fishes, including several endangered species. Importation and possession of this frog is prohibited in California.

Taxonomy
Family	Pipidae	Tongueless Frogs
Genus	Xenopus	Clawed Frogs
Species	laevis	African Clawed Frog
Original Description
Not available
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Not available
Alternate Names
None
Related or Similar California Frogs
None in California.
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game AmphibiaWeb Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. This frog is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the California Department of Fish and Game.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List