CreatureData

Swimming frog

Pseudis paradoxa (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernfrogs and toads

The swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa) is a species in the family Hylidae, order Anura. Recorded adults weigh about 70 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa)
Photo: Mauricio Rivera Correa · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the swimming frog

Weight
70 gsrc for Weight
Length
up to 7.5 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Longest recorded lifespan
11 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
1,000 – 4,624src for Young per litter or clutch
Reproduction
Eggssrc for Reproduction
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the swimming frog live?

Not recorded

What is the swimming frog?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Pseudis paradoxa, known as the paradoxical frog or shrinking frog, is a species of hylid frog from South America. Its name refers to the very large—up to 27 cm (11 in) long—tadpole (the world's longest), which in turn "shrinks" during metamorphosis into an ordinary-sized frog, only about a quarter or third of its former length. Although the recordholder was a tadpole in Amapá that belonged to this species, others in the genus Pseudis also have large tadpoles and ordinary-sized adults.

From the Wikipedia article “Pseudis paradoxa” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pseudis_paradoxa&oldid=1343587948), 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 swimming frog endangered?

The swimming frog is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the swimming frog classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAmphibia
  4. orderAnura
  5. familyHylidae
  6. genusPseudis
  7. SpeciesPseudis paradoxa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Batrachythys paradoxa, Proteus raninus, Pseudes paradoxa, Pseudis merianae, Pseudis paradoxa caribensis, Pseudis paradoxus, Pseudis paradoxus caribensis, Pseudis paradoxus nicefori, Pseudus paradoxus occidentalis, Rana jackia, Rana paradoxa, Rana piscatrix, Rana piscis

Other names and names in other languages (22)
  • Paradoxical frogEnglish
  • Paradoxical swimming frogEnglish
  • xaronca paradoxalAsturian
  • žabice podivnáCzech
  • Paradoxer FroschGerman
  • Großer HarlekinfroschGerman
  • Rana patitoSpanish
  • Pseudis de MérianFrench
  • Grenouille paradoxaleFrench
  • Pseudis paradoxalFrench
  • Nagy harlekinbékaHungarian
  • Rana paradossaleItalian
  • アベコベガエルJapanese
  • Paradoxale kikkerDutch
  • Dziwaczka arlekinPolish
  • удивительная лягушкаRussian
  • гвианская водяная жабаRussian
  • paradoksna harlekinkaSlovenian
  • ParadoxgrodaSwedish
  • முரண்பாடான தவளைTamil
  • Paradoks KurbağaTurkish
  • 奇异多指节蟾Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the swimming frog

Other species in the same genus Pseudis.

CompareSwimming frog vs Brazilian swimming frogSwimming frog vs Cardoso's swimming frogSwimming frog vs Lesser swimming frogSwimming frog vs Rio Arassuahy swimming frog

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the swimming frog?

An adult swimming frog weighs 70 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the swimming frog endangered?

The swimming frog is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the swimming frog?

The swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa) belongs to the family Hylidae in the order Anura.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swimming-frog

MLA

“Swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swimming-frog.

BibTeX
@misc{swimming_frog_2026,
  title = {Swimming frog (Pseudis paradoxa)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swimming-frog},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}