African Clawed Frog happy to see me again!

The African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis) at the Tbilisi Zoo in Georgia is happy to see me again, after my absence of many months.

It is an aquatic, freshwater amphibian in the Pipidae family of tongueless frogs. It is greenish-grey with olive-green markings, but albino frogs are common.

It has smooth, slippery skin. Its underbelly is creamy-white. It has three short claws on each hind (back) foot. It has webbed feet only on its back feet. Its back legs are very powerful. It front legs have long fingers. It has eyes, with red pupils, on the top of its head. It has a curved, flat nose.

It grows to 10-13 centimetres (4-5 inches) in length.

The African Clawed Frog is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from Sudan to South Africa.

It is completely aquatic, so it lives all of its life in water (unlike other frogs that live on land and in water). During droughts, it burrows under the mud and stays dormant (not moving) until rain arrives, for up to a year.

It does not have a tongue, and it does not have teeth. It uses its claws to tear food and its front feet to put the food into its mouth. It uses its sensitive fingers to feel the vibrations of animals. It eats insects, worms, and small animals. It sheds its skin every season, and eats its own skin.

It is oviparous, laying eggs. The female lays 10-30 eggs, which hatch after about 14 days into tadpoles. The tadpoles grow into adult frogs.

The African Clawed Frog lives, on average, for about 15 years in the wild.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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