New genes are drivers of evolutionary innovation and phenotypic evolution. Expression of new genes in early development raisesthe possibility that new genes could originate and be recruited for functions in embryonic development, but this remains undocu-mented. Here, based on temporal gene expression at different developmental stages in Xenopus tropicalis, we found that youngprotein-coding genes were significantly enriched for expression in developmental stages occurring after the midblastula trans-ition (MBT), and displayed a decreasing trend in abundance in the subsequent stages after MBT. To complement the finding, wedemonstrate essential functional attributes of a young orphan gene, named as Fog2, in morphological development. Our dataindicate that new genes could originate after MBT and be recruited for functions in embryonic development, and thus provideinsights for better understanding of the origin, evolution, and function of new genes.