PIES 2-6Mac: Scientists find fossil of Devil Toad

A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armour and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago. It was intimidating enough that scientists who unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad.

But its size – 4.54kg and 40.64cm long – is not the only curiosity. Researchers discovered the creature’s bones in Madagascar. Yet it seems to be a close relative of normal-sized frogs who today live a world away in South America, challenging assumptions about ancient geography.

The discovery, led by paleontologist David Krause at New York’s Stony Brook University. “This frog, if it has the same habits as its living relatives in South America, was quite voracious,’ Krause said. “It’s even conceivable that it could have taken down some hatchling dinosaurs.”

Krause began finding fragments of abnormally large frog bones in Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, in 1993. But only recently did Krause’s team assemble enough frog bones to piece together what the creature would look like, and weighed.

The largest living frog, the Goliath frog of West Africa, can reach 3.18kg

(Adapted From The Star)


WORD LIST
1. fossil
2. toad
3. curiosity
4. assumptions
5. ancient
6. conceivable
7. hatchling
8. fragments
9. abnormally
10. recently
11. assemble
12. creature

ENRICHMENT LIST
1. armour
2. intimidating
3. unearthed
4. dubbed
5. voracious