African clawed frog
Amazing fact
Male African clawed frogs lack vocal cords but make clicking calls by contracting their throat muscles.
Smithsonian National Zoo
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Male African clawed frogs lack vocal cords but make clicking calls by contracting their throat muscles.
THE REAL WORLD
The real African clawed frog
- Scientific name
- Xenopus laevis
- Japanese name
- アフリカツメガエル
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Pipidae
- Genus
- Xenopus
Along its sides runs a stitch-like lateral line that senses vibrations in the water.
How the African clawed frog lives
They spend most of their time underwater and come to the surface to breathe. They tear large pieces of food apart with the claws on their hind feet. Sticky jelly around the eggs makes them cling to sticks, stones and other objects underwater. If a pond dries up in the dry season, they may burrow into mud and lie dormant, leaving a tunnel for air.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebSmithsonian National ZooBasic data
- Range
- Central and southern Africa
Where the African clawed frog has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- アフリカツメガエル
- 简体中文
- 非洲爪蟾
- 繁體中文
- 非洲爪蟾
- 한국어
- 아프리카발톱개구리
- Español
- Rana de uñas africana
- Français
- Xénope lisse
- Deutsch
- Glatter Krallenfrosch
- Português (Brasil)
- Rã-de-unhas-africana
- Italiano
- Platanna
- العربية
- قيطم أفريقي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Katak cakar Afrika
- Tiếng Việt
- Ếch có vuốt châu Phi
- Русский
- Гладкая шпорцевая лягушка
- Türkçe
- Afrika pençeli kurbağası
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — アフリカツメガエルChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Xenopus laevisChecked: 2026-11-06
- Smithsonian National Zoo — African clawed frogChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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