Editing Xenopus (section)

==Characteristics==

''Xenopus laevis'' is a rather inactive creature. It is incredibly hardy and can live up to 15 years. At times the ponds that ''Xenopus laevis'' is found in dry up, compelling it, in the dry season, to burrow into the mud, leaving a tunnel for air. It may lie dormant for up to a year. If the pond dries up in the rainy season, ''Xenopus laevis'' may migrate long distances to another pond, maintaining hydration by the rains. It is an adept swimmer, swimming in all directions with ease. It is barely able to hop, but it is able to crawl. It spends most of its time underwater and comes to surface to breathe. Respiration is predominantly through its well-developed lungs; there is little cutaneous respiration.

===Description===

All species of ''Xenopus'' have flattened, somewhat egg-shaped and streamlined bodies, and very slippery skin (because of a protective mucus covering).<ref name="arizona">{{cite web|url=http://www.iacuc.arizona.edu/training/xenopus/intro.html|title=IACUC Learning Module — ''Xenopus laevis''|publisher=University of Arizona|access-date=2009-10-11|archive-date=2010-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626190703/http://www.iacuc.arizona.edu/training/xenopus/intro.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The frog's skin is smooth, but with a [[lateral line]] sensory organ that has a stitch-like appearance. The frogs are all excellent swimmers and have powerful, fully webbed toes, though the fingers lack webbing. Three of the toes on each foot have conspicuous black [[claw]]s.
	 
The frog's eyes are on top of the head, looking upwards. The [[pupils]] are circular. They have no moveable [[eyelids]], [[tongue]]s (rather it is completely attached to the floor of the mouth<ref name="arizona"/>) or [[eardrum]]s (similarly to [[Common Suriname toad|''Pipa pipa'', the common Suriname toad]]<ref name="noc-ani">{{cite book| vauthors = Roots C  |title=Nocturnal animals |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=19 |isbn=978-0-313-33546-4|year=2006}}</ref>).<ref name="passmore">{{cite book | vauthors = Passmore NI, Carruthers VC | date = 1979 | title = South African Frogs | pages = 42–43 | publisher = Witwatersrand University Press | location = Johannesburg | isbn = 0-85494-525-3 }}</ref>
	 
Unlike most amphibians, they have no [[haptoglobin]] in their [[blood]].<ref name="passmore"/>

===Behaviour===
''Xenopus'' species are entirely [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]], though they have been observed migrating on land to nearby bodies of water during times of [[drought]] or in heavy rain. They are usually found in [[lake]]s, [[river]]s, [[swamps]], potholes in streams, and man-made reservoirs.<ref name="passmore"/>

Adult frogs are usually both [[predator]]s and [[scavengers]], and since their tongues are unusable, the frogs use their small fore limbs to aid in the feeding process. Since they also lack [[vocal sac]]s, they make clicks (brief pulses of sound) underwater (again similar to ''[[Pipa pipa]]'').<ref name="noc-ani"/> Males establish a hierarchy of social dominance in which primarily one male has the right to make the advertisement call.<ref name="tobias-compet">{{cite journal | vauthors = Tobias ML, Corke A, Korsh J, Yin D, Kelley DB | title = Vocal competition in male Xenopus laevis frogs | journal = Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume = 64 | issue = 11 | pages = 1791–1803 | date = November 2010 | pmid = 21442049 | pmc = 3064475 | doi = 10.1007/s00265-010-0991-3 }}</ref> The females of many species produce a release call, and ''[[Xenopus laevis]]'' females produce an additional call when sexually receptive and soon to lay eggs.<ref name="tobias-rap">{{cite journal | vauthors = Tobias ML, Viswanathan SS, Kelley DB | title = Rapping, a female receptive call, initiates male-female duets in the South African clawed frog | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 95 | issue = 4 | pages = 1870–1875 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9465109 | pmc = 19205 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.95.4.1870 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 1998PNAS...95.1870T }}</ref> The ''Xenopus'' species are also active during the twilight (or [[crepuscular]]) hours.<ref name="passmore"/>

During breeding season, the males develop ridge-like nuptial pads (black in color) on their fingers to aid in grasping the female. The frogs' mating embrace is inguinal, meaning the male grasps the female around her waist.<ref name="passmore"/>