African clawed frog
Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802)
LCLeast Concernfrogs and toads
The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) is an amphibian in the frogs and toads subgroup, belonging to the family Pipidae and the subfamily Dactylethrinae within the order Anura. It is a small frog with an adult body mass of 130 g and a body length of up to 14.7 cm.
Quick facts about the African clawed frog
This nocturnal carnivore feeds on arthropods and vertebrates, and its microhabitats are listed as aquatic, arboreal and terrestrial. It lays eggs, with 9,750 eggs per clutch as a representative value and from 2,500 to 17,000 reported, and it develops through a larval stage.
- Weight
- 130 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 14.7 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 30.3 years
- Main food
- arthropods, vertebratessrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2,500 – 17,000src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the African clawed frog
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the African clawed frog live?
Not recorded
What is the African clawed frog?
The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), also known as simply xenopus, African clawed toad, African claw-toed frog or the platanna) is a species of African aquatic frog of the family Pipidae. Its name is derived from the short black claws on its feet. The word Xenopus means 'strange foot' and laevis means 'smooth'.
The species is found throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria and Sudan to South Africa), and in isolated, introduced populations in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. All species of the family Pipidae are tongueless, toothless and completely aquatic. They use their hands to shove food in their mouths and down their throats and a hyobranchial pump to draw or suck things in their mouth. Pipidae have powerful legs for swimming and lunging after food. They also use the claws on their feet to tear pieces of large food. They have no external eardrums, but instead subcutaneous cartilaginous disks that serve the same function. They use their sensitive fingers and sense of smell to find food. Pipidae are scavengers and will eat almost anything living, dying, or dead and any type of organic waste.
It is considered an invasive species in several countries, including across Europe.
From the Wikipedia article “African clawed frog” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_clawed_frog&oldid=1383745529), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the African clawed frog endangered?
The African clawed frog is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the African clawed frog classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyPipidae
- genusXenopus
- SpeciesXenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802)
Synonyms Bufo laevis, Dactylethera boiei, Dactylethera laevis, Dactylethra bufonia, Dactylethra capensis, Dactylethra delalandii, Dactylethra laevis, Dactylethra levis, Engystoma laevis, Leptopus boiei, Leptopus oxydactylus, Pipa africana, Pipa bufonia, Pipa laevis, Tremeropugus typicus, Xenopus boiei, Xenopus bojei, Xenopus laevis laevis
Other names and names in other languages (59)
- African clawed toadEnglish
- African clawed toadEnglish
- Clawed frogEnglish
- Clawed frogEnglish
- Clawed toadEnglish
- Clawed toadEnglish
- Common clawed frogEnglish
- Common clawed frogEnglish
- Common clawed toadEnglish
- Common clawed toadEnglish
- Common platannaEnglish
- Common platannaEnglish
- PlatannaEnglish
- PlatannaEnglish
- Smooth clawed frogEnglish
- Smooth clawed frogEnglish
- Upland clawed frogEnglish
- Upland clawed frogEnglish
- PlathanderAfrikaans
- Gewone PlatannaAfrikaans
- قيطم إفريقيArabic
- ضفدع ذو المخالب الأفريقيArabic
- Granota amb ungles africanaCatalan
- drápatka vodníCzech
- Afrikansk sporefrøDanish
- Glatter KrallenfroschGerman
- KrallenfroschGerman
- Rana africana de garrasSpanish
- Rana africanaSpanish
- Rana-de garras africanaSpanish
- afrikankynsisammakkoFinnish
- Xénope lisseFrench
- Xénope du CapFrench
- Xénope lisse (Le)French
- צפרדע-רפואית מצויהHebrew
- Dél-afrikai karmosbékaHungarian
- Xenopo liscioItalian
- アフリカツメガエルJapanese
- 아프리카발톱개구리Korean
- klofroskNorwegian Bokmål
- sørafrikansk sporefroskNorwegian Bokmål
- klauwpadDutch
- Afrikaanse klauwkikkerDutch
- klauwkikkerDutch
- Platana szponiastaPolish
- Rã-de-unhas-africanaPortuguese
- Гладкая шпорцевая лягушкаRussian
- navadna krempljarkaSlovenian
- Lentsweta le tlwaelehilengSouthern Sotho
- Siphata lesivamileSwati
- afrikansk klogrodaSwedish
- Pençeli Afrika KurbağasıTurkish
- Segwagwa sa metsing se tlwaelegilengTswana
- Chela ra minwala ro hangalakaTsonga
- Шпоркова жаба гладенькаUkrainian
- Tshiḓula tsha maṋala tsho andahoVenda
- Udlela oqhelekileyoXhosa
- 非洲爪蟾Chinese
- Idwi elijwayelekileZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the African clawed frog
Other species in the same genus Xenopus.
Forest clawed frog
Xenopus tropicalis
Cape platanna
Xenopus gilli
Savanna clawed frog
Xenopus longipes
Müller's platanna
Xenopus muelleri
Volcano clawed frog
Xenopus amieti
Fraser's platanna
Xenopus fraseri
CompareAfrican clawed frog vs Forest clawed frogAfrican clawed frog vs Cape platannaAfrican clawed frog vs Savanna clawed frogAfrican clawed frog vs Müller's platanna
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the African clawed frog?
The African clawed frog is an amphibian in the frogs and toads subgroup, classified in the order Anura and the family Pipidae.
How big is the African clawed frog?
It is a small frog with an adult body mass of 130 g and a body length of up to 14.7 cm.
What does the African clawed frog eat?
It is a carnivore whose main foods are arthropods and vertebrates.
Is the African clawed frog endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN Red List assessment, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the African clawed frog live?
Our sources report a lifespan of up to 30.3 years.
How many eggs does the African clawed frog lay?
It lays 9,750 eggs per clutch as a representative value, with reported clutches from 2,500 to 17,000 eggs.
Who named the African clawed frog?
Its scientific name, Xenopus laevis, is attributed to (Daudin, 1802).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-clawed-frog
“African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-clawed-frog.
@misc{african_clawed_frog_2026,
title = {African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-clawed-frog},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}