The giant frog Beelzebufo, or "devil frog," was the largest frog ever to live on Earth.
Courtesy of SUNY-Stony Brook
Giant Fossil Frog Found in Madagascar
News story originally written on February 18, 2008
If you went looking for frogs today on the island of Madagascar, the largest one you could find would be just over four inches long. But if you went looking for frogs more than 65 million years ago, you could have found some giants.
A team of researchers discovered the fossils of the largest frog ever found. They named it Beelzebufo. It was 16-inch across and 10-pounds and hopped around Madagascar 65 to 70 million years ago.
Paleontologist David Krause discovered the bones of the giant frog and put the frog's skeleton back together.
This frog was a strong animal. It had a protective shield, a very wide mouth and strong jaws. Beelzebufo was able to kill lizards and other small animals. Maybe the frog could have eaten baby dinosaurs.
Beelzebufo is in the group of frogs that have huge mouths – mouths large enough for the nickname: 'pac-man' frogs.
Fossil frog experts Susan Evans and Marc Jones discovered that Beelzebufo is probably related to frogs that are alive today in South America. That’s a long way away from Madagascar an island off Africa's southeast coast. It may be evidence from the time when, because of plate tectonics, Africa, South America, and Antarctica were connected forming a supercontinent.
Last modified June 26, 2008 by Lisa Gardiner.
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