The Lake Oku Clawed Frog (Xenopus longipes) is a critically endangered freshwater amphibian.

The Lake Oku Clawed Frog is dark-coloured with claws at the ends of its two hind (back) feet. Its back is brown, and its belly is speckled black on an orange background.

Lake Oku Clawed Frog

It is a very small frog, measuring 3-4 centimetres (1.5 inches) in length.

The Lake Oku Clawed Frog is found only in Lake Oku, a small crater lake in northwest Cameroon, a country in Africa, surrounded by forests. It has never been seen outside of the water in the lake, so it seems as if it does not live for part of its life on land, like most frogs.

It prefers the shallow freshwater lake.

It feeds on small animals and dead animals.

There are captive breeding programs to preserve the species, such as the breeding program by the Zoological Society of London at the London Zoo.

Lake Oku Clawed Frog

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM