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Species
Xenopus laevis (Daudin 1802)
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The range of this species is unclear following the removal from Xenopus victorianus from X. laevis. For the purposes of this assessment we have assumed that all animals from southern Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique southwards (including in almost all of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland) belong to X. laevis. In addition we treat all animals in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo west of 28ºE as belonging to X. l. sudanensis. Records from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo east of 28ºE refer to this X. victorianus. There is an isolated record from Gabon (M. Beier pers. comm. January 2006).
It is introduced in several places outside its native range, including the USA where it was first introduced in the 1930s and 1940s for laboratory use and later as an aquarium pet. It was introduced and established locally in California (San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Imperial counties) and Arizona (Tucson area) (Stebbins 1985, Lafferty ad Page 1997). It has been recorded from, but it is not established in Colorado. It has also been introduced to Chile (introduced in the 1970s to central Chile, Valparaiso to Concepción Provinces), parts of the United Kingdom (extant in south Wales and presumed extirpated from the Isle of Wight [not mapped here], and a number of occasional records from other locations [not mapped], the Departments of Deux-Sèvres and Maine et Loire in France and Java (Indonesia) [not mapped here]. It is introduced also in the Lage stream, about 20 km W of Lisbon, Portugal (Rebelo et al. 2007) and there is a large invasive population in Sicily (Lillo et al. 2005, Faraone et al. 2008) [not mapped here]. It is presumed to occur in southwestern Sudan, but there do not appear to be confirmed records from this country (there is an uncertain record assigned to X. l. sudanensis from Jebel Marrah, Sudan (M. Beier pers. comm. January 2006) [not mapped here]). Records from Congo refer to X. petersii. Its range is also extending in parts of Africa, often by introduction because it is used for live bait, and it has spread extensively in South Africa. This species ranges from sea-level up to 3,000 m asl.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/58174 |
Global Range: Native to Africa. First brought to the U.S. in the 1930s and 1940s for laboratory use and later as an aquarium pet. Introduced and established locally in California (San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Imperial counties) and Arizona (Tucson area) (Stebbins 1985, Lafferty ad Page 1997). Apparently established in Baja California (see Mahrdt et al. 2003). Recorded but not established in Colorado.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Xenopus+laevis |
Zona Mediterranea
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Pablo Gutierrez, IABIN |
Source | No source database. |
Adults are generalist predators and scavengers, and can hold food items in their toothed mouths while breaking it apart with their claws using an overhead kick (Avila and Frye 1978). These behaviours can be detected by other adults in the vicinity and sometimes lead to a feeding frenzy (Frye and Avila 1979). Most food items for post-metamorphic X. laevis are benthic macro-invertebrates, such as chironomid larvae. However, a wide variety of food sources are used from all microhabitats in water bodies, including carrion and terrestrial food items (Measey 1998a, b). Even the largest animals take very small prey items, such as zooplankton and ostracods . X. laevis plays an important role in the ecology of southern African wetlands because it is widespread and abundant, and it is a voracious predator as well as an important prey item for several mammalian, avian and reptilian predators (Text from Minter et al., 2004, © SI/MAB Biodiversity Program).
Xenopus laevis tested positive for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Botswana at the Kanye Youth Centre in April 1969 (Weldon 2005). It also tested positive in the South African cities of Zeekoeivlei in 1938, Moordenaarshoek and Harrismith in 1972, Natal in 1973, Rosendal and Touw River in 1974, Phillipi in 1982, Florisbad in 1987, Koffiefontein and Sannaspos in 1991, Mooi River in 1995, Kommissiepoort in 1996, Windsorton Road in 1998, Stellenbosch and Klapmuts in 2001, Strand, Wellington, and Botrivier in 2002 and Kammieskroon in 2004 (Weldon 2005).
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 10
Specimens with Barcodes: 39
Species With Barcodes: 1
Species Impact: This species is a threat to a number of native U.S. amphibians and fishes (e.g., tidewater goby, Lafferty and Page 1997).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Xenopus+laevis |
X. laevis is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa.
Within its southern distribution, it is a common and widespread species, occurring from sea level to nearly 3000 m in Lesotho. In the west, it is apparently absent in areas of extreme aridity, including much of the Kalahari and Bushmanland in Northern Cape Province. Its distribution extends eastward as far as the Great Escarpment, where it comes into contact with X. muelleri in the low-lying parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces (Text from Minter et al., 2004, © SI/MAB Biodiversity Program).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bergmann, Travis, Measey, G.J., African Amphibians Lifedesk |
Source | http://africanamphibians.lifedesks.org/pages/26278 |
Desecación/sequía
Tiene una notable capacidad para estivar y enfrentar prolongados períodos de sequía, presenta adaptaciones fisiológicas y conductuales que explican su desenvolvimiento en condiciones adversas (Solís, 2004).
4.4 Conducta
Este anuro presenta actividad nocturna (Solís, 2004).
Temperatura
El amplio rango geográfico y ecológico ocupado por de X. laevis sugiere una gran habilidad para tolerar un considerable rango de temperaturas ambientales. Se reportan valores de temperatura entre 15,5 ºC y 26,6 ºC, en las cuales los individuos viven y se reproducen exitosamente (Solís, 2004).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ |
Rights holder/Author | CONABIO |
Source | No source database. |
It is an invasive species all over world because it was used in human pregnancy tests in the 1940's. When more effective means of pregnancy tests were made available, many X. laevis were released all over the world.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Xenopus_laevis/ |
This is one of the most-studied species of frogs, considered one of the model systems of developmental biology. It is hardy and breeding can be easily induced in the laboratory. Xenopus laevis early development has been studied by developmental biologists for decades and its genome has been fully sequenced. Because it makes a hardy and popular pet, it can also be found in aquariums worldwide. This species has been used as food in African countries (Trueb 2003).
- Trueb, L. (2003). ''Common platanna, Xenopus laevis.'' Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Amphibians. 2nd edition. M. Hutchins, W. E. Duellman, and N. Schlager, eds., Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | See http://www.amphibiaweb.org/datause.html. |
Source | http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Xenopus&where-species=laevis&account=amphibiaweb |