The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) is native to southern Africa but is invasive on four different continents. This study aimed to understand four major aspects of the African clawed frogs’ invasion in western France. Firstly, I assessed for the level of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation of X. laevis tadpoles from the two contrasting rainfall regions in the native range, as this could provide information on the level of phenotypic plasticity in the French invasive range. The winter rainfall region is characterised by colder temperature and a winter rainfall pattern whereas the summer rainfall region is characterised by warmer temperatures and a summer rainfall pattern. I performed a reciprocal exchange experiment using outdoor mesocosms. I found that both phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation determined the tadpole phenotype in the winter and summer rainfall regions. I also identified a survival cost in individuals translocated to the other region. However, the cost was lower for winter rainfall tadpoles. Thus, the interaction between phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation likely explains the persistence of this species in contrasting environments. Secondly, in amphibians, tadpole phenotypic traits can be coupled or decoupled to dispersal traits in adults. Spatial sorting has been observed in adults of X. laevis in western France. Thus, I tested whether spatial sorting altered the morphology and life-history traits of tadpoles due to the coupling of traits between stages. I conducted common garden experiments in laboratory microcosms and outdoor mesocosms. I compared body size, timing of metamorphosis and survival between tadpoles from the core and from the periphery of the invasive range but found no effects of the position in the invasive range on tadpole phenotype. The only difference in both the outdoor and laboratory experiments was the larger body size of post-metamorphic individuals at the periphery. These findings support the hypothesis of decoupling between adult traits and tadpole phenotypic traits. Decoupling can allow each stage of the complex life cycle to respond independently to environmental conditions. Thirdly, I assessed whether the degree of phenotypic plasticity changed between the core and the periphery during the expansion process. I tested this hypothesis for invasive X. laevis in western France. I measured the critical thermal limits and modelling the thermal performance curves of the burst swimming performance (velocity, acceleration, and sinuosity) of core and periphery tadpoles reared at three developmental temperatures (low, intermediate, and high). I found that both the position in the distribution (core/ periphery) and the developmental temperature was significant in determining burst swimming performance. However, no differences were identified between the performance of core and periphery tadpoles reared in the same developmental temperature. Tadpoles reared at the high temperature acclimated their performance to warmer temperatures, however, tadpoles displayed limited acclimation to cooler temperatures. Finally, I tested whether tadpoles identified and responded to novel predators in their invasive range. In western France, X. laevis can encounter novel aquatic predators. I tested whether naïve tadpoles from the invasive French population exhibited anti-predator response to local predators, and whether the response depended on the degree of relatedness with predators in the native range. I exposed naïve lab-reared tadpoles to a non-predatory water snail, Planorbarius corneus, a native predatory beetle, Dytiscus dimidiatus, and an invasive predatory crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. I found that tadpoles innately reduced their activity when exposed to beetle and crayfish olfactory cues, but not to snail cue. This demonstrates that invasive tadpoles respond to known and novel predators regardless of the evolutionary history of the prey-predator interaction