African Clawed Frogs
African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) are an aquatic frog found throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria and Sudan to South Africa). You can find them at reptile shows and are extremely hardy living up to 20 or even 30 years in captivity.
Up and until the 60's these frogs were used for pregnancy tests, exported all over the world for this use. The problem now is that labs released them into the wild when modern pregnancy tests became available. They carry a virus that kills other frogs outside of Africa.
A peculiar looking frog, that spends most of its life in the water. They can live just about in any type of aquatic environment, in clean water or not!
So strange... Like a small fish, the tadpole of Xenopus laevis, South-African clawed frog.
Fascinating creatures with their antennae and tail tips with which they maintain trim!
African Clawed Frogs also are known as Xenopus laevis caught at the Ysterklip farm dam. The Ysterclip farm dam is a clay dam with clear water which is the reason for their light, muddy skin colouration. Photo by A. de Villiers
Xenopus laevis is an important model organism for biology because scientists can induce egg laying. Originally, this was used in pregnancy tests. Urine from women would be injected into a frog and scientists would see if this induced egg laying, meaning the woman is pregnant. The chemical responsible for this is hCG and is still used today by scientists and in over the counter pregnancy tests.
My favorite frog... They can make metallic clicking sounds, and both the males and females call underwater using these sounds. The Frogs of Southern Africa app has a recording of it
These frogs can definitely "sing". I used to keep them as pets in an aquarium as a kid and they made such a racket at night. My parents used to complain to me about it because the tank was situated right outside their bedroom window.
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