Editing Xenopus (section)

{{Short description|Genus of amphibians}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| oldest_fossil = Oligocene
| image = Xenopus laevis.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Xenopus laevis]]''
| taxon = Xenopus
| authority = [[Johann Georg Wagler|Wagler]] 1827
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = [[#Species|See text]]
}}

'''''Xenopus''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|ɛ|n|ə|p|ə|s}}{{refn|{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Xenopus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182228/https://www.lexico.com/definition/xenopus |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-03-22 |title=Xenopus |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} }}{{refn|{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|access-date=2016-01-21|Xenopus}}}}) (Gk., ξενος, ''xenos''&nbsp;=&nbsp;strange, πους, ''pous''&nbsp;=&nbsp;foot, commonly known as the '''clawed frog''') is a [[genus]] of highly aquatic [[frogs]] native to [[sub-Saharan Africa]].  Twenty species are currently described within it. The two best-known species of this genus are ''[[Xenopus laevis]]'' and ''[[Xenopus tropicalis]]'', which are commonly studied as [[model organism]]s for developmental biology, cell biology, toxicology, neuroscience and for modelling human disease and birth defects.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nenni MJ, Fisher ME, James-Zorn C, Pells TJ, Ponferrada V, Chu S, Fortriede JD, Burns KA, Wang Y, Lotay VS, Wang DZ, Segerdell E, Chaturvedi P, Karimi K, Vize PD, Zorn AM | display-authors = 6 | title = Xenbase: Facilitating the Use of ''Xenopus'' to Model Human Disease | journal = Frontiers in Physiology | volume = 10 | pages = 154 | year = 2019 | pmid = 30863320 | pmc = 6399412 | doi = 10.3389/fphys.2019.00154 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="wallingford">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wallingford JB, Liu KJ, Zheng Y | title = Xenopus | journal = Current Biology | volume = 20 | issue = 6 | pages = R263–R264 | date = March 2010 | pmid = 20334828 | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2010.01.012 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2010CBio...20.R263W }}</ref><ref name="Harland">{{cite journal | vauthors = Harland RM, Grainger RM | title = Xenopus research: metamorphosed by genetics and genomics | journal = Trends in Genetics | volume = 27 | issue = 12 | pages = 507–515 | date = December 2011 | pmid = 21963197 | pmc = 3601910 | doi = 10.1016/j.tig.2011.08.003 }}</ref>

The genus is also known for its [[polyploid]]y, with some species having up to 12 sets of [[chromosome]]s.