Facts and Features of African Clawed Frog

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class : Amphibia

Order: Anura

Family : Pipidae

Genre : Xenopus

Scientific Name : Xenopus laevis

Common Name : African Clawed Frog

Other Name( s ) : Platanna

Group: Amphibian

Number of species : 1

Location: Eastern and Southern Africa

Habitat : stagnant waters with grasses

Color type: Brown , Gray , Albino

Skin : Permeable Scales

Size ( L ) : 2.7 cm - 12 cm (1 inch - 4.5in )

Weight: 27 g - 220 g (1 oz - 8 oz )

Maximum speed : 9 km / h ( 5 mph )

Diet : Carnivore

Prey : small fish , insects , spiders

Attackers :birds , small mammals

Lifestyle : Nocturnal

Group behavior : Solitary

Type of water : Fresh

Duration of the life : 8-15 years

Sexual maturity : 10-12 months

Incubation period : 4-5 days

Average Spawn Size : 2000

Name Of Young : tadpole

Age Of Independance : 5 days

Life Status : Least Concern

Size of the population estimated : Abundant

Major threatens : it water pollution

Different feature :Clawed front legs

Funny facts : A particularly dangerous amphibian !

Classification and Evolution of African Clawed Frog

The African Clawed Frog is a generously proportioned species of plane Frog which is primarily found dwelling by the side of the substructure of lakes and rivers. The African Clawed Frog is besides famous as the Platanna and has a quantity of very unique characteristics with the aim of mean it is especially adapted to it's environment. The African Clawed Frog is thought to be originated from South Africa, and is at the moment found unpretentiously across the African continent. The African Clawed Frog has besides been introduced to the Americas and parts of Europe.

Anatomy and Appearance of African Clawed Frog

The usual adult African Clawed Frog grows to not more than 12 cm in measurement lengthwise, and weighs around 200g.The African Clawed Frog is generally green, grey colour despite other colour combination of the African Clawed Frog are not uncommon (such as albino).The colour of the African Clawed Frog's skin, along with it's speckled pattern, gives it more mask from hungry predators.They maintain a line of stitch-marks along their bodies which directs as an sense organs to detect prey in the surrounding stream. Their eyes and nose are located on top of the head enabling them to find out and breathe but not including being too visible.

Distribution and Habitat of African Clawed Frog

The African Clawed Frog is commonly found in eastern and southern Africa, along the African Rift Valley where they like better stagnant waters to fast-flowing streams. African Clawed Frogs are bottom-dwelling animals and will solitary leave the safety of the stream if they are strained to migrate. They inhabit cheery shallow creeks and rivers throughout the summer and move into the flooded forests throughout the raining season. Due to introduction by Humans, the African Clawed Frog can be found in numerous freshwater habitats outside of Africa someplace they can be a very insidious species.

Behaviour of African Clawed Frog

The African Clawed Frog spends its life in stream, excluding in place of poking its head up to the emerge from schedule to schedule to breathe. The African Clawed Frog can swim by the side of astonishing speeds sideways, backwards, forwards, up and down, and in all other ways. It is an unruly killer and once upon a time food has been marked, the African Clawed Frog after that catches it's prey using it's claws, which goes it into the African Clawed Frog's mouth. The African Clawed Frog has evolved very successfully as a bottom-dwelling inborn,with the aim of it has greater protection from predators and a better high-quality of food.

Reproduction and Life Cycles of African Clawed Frog

Female African Clawed Frogs are often double by two the size of the males, and are able to have children more than once in a year. After mating, the female African Clawed Frog can lay thousands of eggs by the side of a schedule on an underground water object, which are held mutually in the stream by a jelly-like substance. After hatching, the African Clawed Frog tadpoles arise their life in the stream until they grow legs and are able to venture barred against the watercourse banks if need be. The African Clawed Frog is famous to maintain a long lifespan in place of small aquatic animals, and can live to around 5 to 15 years in the wild. Some adult African Clawed Frogs maintain been found to  have life period virtually 30 years old.

Diet and Prey of African Clawed Frog 

The African Clawed Frog is a carnivorous inborn and predators inside it's water world. The African Clawed Frog's major food are Water Bugs and small Fish but the African Clawed Frog is besides famous to take it's own skin each time as food when it is shed. African Clawed Frogs besides hunt other small invertebrates such as Insects, Spiders and Worms, which it catches to mouth using it's clawed front feet. African Clawed Frogs in captivity maintain a much smaller amount varied diet which initially collections of Worms.

Predators and Threats of African Clawed Frog

Miniature mammals like Rodents, Cats and Dogs, and numerous Birds and Reptiles, all prey on the African Clawed Frog, but herons are most dangers for them. By living on the bottom mud surfaces of lakes and rivers, the African Clawed Frog can continue safely hidden in place of much time, and solitary it's eyes and nose appear beyond the water-line whilst it surfaces. Although not as vulnerable as many other amphibians, the African Clawed Frog is besides being threatened by stream pollution.

Interesting Facts and Features of African Clawed Frog

The African Clawed Frog are popular of their unique feet, as their back feet are webbed but their front legs maintain clawed toes as a substitute, which are used to help take food into their mouths.In the past 1940s ,the African Clawed Frog became the world's basic pregnancy test rather than humans, which although barbaric, has led to them being found worldwide at the moment. The African Clawed Frog has besides been a widely held test subject matter in science.They are famous to be highly aggressive animals and particularly unruly amphibians.

Relationship with Humans of African Clawed Frog

Over the years, Humans maintain to find out a quantity of uses of the African Clawed Frog in our daily life.The nearly everyone notable (and probably cruellest) of these practices was of the African Clawed Frog females as a type of pregnancy test.The hormone produced by Human babies (passed on through the mother's urine) famous as HCG,reduces ovulation in the female African Clawed Frog. Humans besides wear out them in laboratories worldwide in place of explore and philosophy. Habitat loss and stream pollution reasoned major effect on African Clawed Frog populations.

Conservation Status of African Clawed Frog

Although it has been classified as being by the side of Least Concern from imminent extinction, population statistics fallen in some areas due to deteriorating water quality. Elsewhere, African Clawed Frog populations around the earth often happen to non-native pests to the confined plants and wildlife.

Facts and Features of Arctic Walrus

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class : Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family : Odobenidae

Genre : Odobenus

Scientific Name : Odobenus rosmarus

Common Name : Walrus

Other Names: Atlantic Walrus and Pacific Walrus

Group: Mammals

Number of species : 2

Geographic Location: Arctic Circle

Habitat :Rocky Coasts and ice lands

Color : Grey, Brown

Skin: Hair

Size ( L ) : 2.27 m - 3.6 m ( 7.6 ft - 11.6 ft )

Weight: 405 kg - 1,7020 kg ( 890 pounds - 3750 pounds )

Maximum speed : 38kph ( 24 mph )

Diet : Carnivorus

Food:shellfish, worms , snails,octopus

Predators :whales , polar bears,Humans

Lifestyle : Diurnal

Group: Herd

Duration of the life : 41-50 years

Sexual Maturity Age: 6-10 years

Gestation Period : 15 months

Litter size : 1

Baby Name : Pup

Weaning Age: 2 years

State of Conservation :Threatened

Size of the population estimated : 220000-240000

Major threats : Hunting and loss of habitat

Special feature :Long tusks growing upto 1m long

Funny Facts : Lives in freezing waters of Arctic regions

Classification and Evolution of Walrus

The walrus is a  mammal found in the marine icy cold waters of the Arctic Regions. It is considered as more closely related to Fur Selas, seals , walruses are the second largest marine related mammals that come together to breed after elephant seals and separated among pinnipeds ,due to their long tusks and sensitive whiskers.Currently there are two different species of walrus that minutely vary in appearance with respect to geographic location , which are Atlantic walrus and Pacific walrus.However, it is widely whispered whether or not there is actually a third species thought as the Laptev walrus found in  Laptev Sea ,which thought to be a location of Pacific walrus that specifically inhabit the area.The walrus is taken as an increasingly vulnerable even though the collection of data on these elusive creatures can be difficult so it is difficult to accurately determine the current population status of walrus.

Anatomy and Appearance of Walrus

Walruses consists of large and elongated bodies with head and neck  are quite wider and taper towards the tail,that is summarized with skin.Its skin is covered with a thick layer of scattered hairs usually gray or brown in color. However, while bathing out of the water , walrus skin (which can be up to 4 cm thick) a pink - red color develops.Walruses have two pairs of wings that help them through the water with their hind flippers give power to the bodies, while the front wings are used to guide them in the right direction.On surface, they move unconventionally on all the flippers underneath at 90 degree to further support.The skin on the bottom of the wings is rough and gnarled that protects these huge animals from slipping on ice.Walruses have long tusks which are used both to fight and dig ice when coming out of the water .

Distribution and Habitat of Walrus

Walruses are found throughout the north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans , inhabiting ice floes and rocky coasts , along with spending a lot of time in the cold water. During the winter months , when the ice is so hard , walruses prefer thinner ice areas which can easily break through the surface of the water below.In the summer months when the ice declines ,these are found in remote areas of the rocky coast.Instead of being very suitable  freezing conditions in north, walruses have sometimes been known to move into the south areas of central Canada, throughout the UK and also near to Spanish coast.Although they spend most of their time in and around the Arctic Circle, which are growing under threat of global warming is rapidly running out of ice that these animals have learned to trust .

Behavior and Lifestyle of Walrus

Walruses are highly social animals that live in large herds on the ice floes that can hold up to thousands of individuals and consist primarily of females (cows ) and their calves, along with a number of dominant males (bulls ).When move into water to feed these huge groups break up into small bands numbering only ten individuals so there is less competition for food.Male walruses are almost twice the weight of their female and have longer tusks that can grow up to one meter in length and are mainly used to fight with competitors to the most favored breeding and female residing there.They are known for making a variety of vocal sounds including strong bellows during breeding season that easily and loudly produce , thanks to the two air bags in the neck.

Reproduction and Life Cycles of Walrus

Walruses breed in winter season between the months of January and March.After a gestation period lasts about 15 months , one pup is born on ice having length of upto 1.2 meters long and weight up to 75 kg. Baby Walrus have short , soft hair covering their bodies, wings are pale grey in color and a thick , white mustache with no teeth.They just suck the milk of its mother during its first six months , when they begin to eat solid foods. After first year , walrus pups are almost three times the size they were at birth and begin to become independent , although they tend to stay very close to their mothers until they are two or three years old.Young females tend to stay close to their mother, but males begin to venture out of the pack to join groups of bachelors.Female walruses are capable of begin sex at about 6 or 7 years old , but men are not mature until they are at least 10 years old, but often do not reproduce until they can demonstrate proficiency around 5 years later.

Diet and Prey of Walrus

Walruses are carnivores that hunt and only eat other animals to survive.They have a thick mustache that contains about 450 very sensitive whiskers that help them find food in dark and turbid water at depths of about 100 meters below the surface.Walrus find food mostly on the ocean floor and are known to expel air and water in the sediment to reveal hidden food under the sand .Initially they suck food into the mouth rather than chewing by teeth and even seafood are known to grip between lips and sucking the soft creature from inside the shell, before spitting the shell on the water.Walruses feed on a variety of prey species , including clams , snails , worms, squid, octopus and even some species of slow-moving fish .Some populations of walruses are also known to hunt seals .

Attackers and Threats of Walrus

Because of its large size and aggressive nature,have few predators in their natural surroundings , with the exception of the pods of killer whales and polar bear, as they can easily defend themselves with the tusks. Humans are the most common predators of the walrus, as they are hunted for meat , skin and oil from local populations.They are also affected by water pollution,including oil contamination affecting them, but also through their prey , along with large fishing vessel that the walruses prey and not only  left with less food , but also cause serious noise pollution in waters.

Interesting Facts of Walrus

Walruses are well comfortable to living in some of the coldest regions in the world, with thick skin covering a thick layer of blubber (fat ) that keeps warm.Its tusks were originally designed to help during feeding, but they know it's more to do with social status.Walruses dig their tusks into the ice surfaces to help them transport their enormous bodies out of the water , but also put their tusks into the ice so that they are able to sleep while their bodies remain submerged beneath the waves. Walruses are also known for using their long and powerful tusks as an axe to cut their way through the thick layer of ice.Walruses feed on the darkness of the ocean and is known to regularly move on depths of between 80m and 100m for almost half an hour at a time.However, recent studies gives that , depending on the availability of prey ,they are known to reach around depth of 180 meters below the water surface.

Relationship of Walrus with humans

For thousands of years , local people have thought about walruses as much like humans as they are known to show qualities of intelligence , they are slow to breed and give long and very good care of their young. Walruses also been hunted by people in their home countries for thousands of years as a source of food, but in recent years have also been increasingly hunted for the ivory of their tusks, which is considered to be the second in size and quality only to elephants .The large-scale hunting has decreased populations of walrus, especially in some areas , but also increasing amounts of pollution that is having a great effect on wild populations.

Conservation Status of Walrus 

Nowadays , the walrus is considered as Threatened species, although the data are difficult to collect in these bottom-feeding mammals .Since the 18th century these are declining, with increasing levels of hunting and human activity and , more recently,due to decreasing  amount of ice due to global warming.Although the exact population size is unknown , it is estimated that there are between 220,000 and 240,000 walrus remain in the icy waters of the Arctic Regions.