'Frog from hell' fossil unearthed (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

A 70-million-year-old fossil of a giant frog has been unearthed in Madagascar by a team of UK and US scientists.

The creature would have been the size of a "squashed beach ball" and weighed about 4kg (9lb), the researchers said.

They added that the fossil, nicknamed Beelzebufo or "frog from hell", was "strikingly different" from present-day frogs found on the island nation.

Details of the discovery are reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The team from University College London (UCL) and Stony Brook University, New York, said the frog would have had a body length of about 40cm (16 inches), and was among the largest of its kind to be found.


***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7251666.stm

Actually not too much larger than a Goliath Frog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_frog

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. Ribbit

RIBBIT RIBBIT RIBBIT

[Deja Q]

2. Dang, I look a lot like him!

Well, I've got something that big-ass frog does not... :blush:

[Warpy]

3. I know I dated one of his relatives

who stubbornly refused to turn into a prince.

One of the science channels had a program last night about the first few million years on earth. Apparently, there were some 8 foot aquatic scorpions around back when.

There are reasons to be grateful for past dieoffs. Those monster scorpions are certainly one of them.

[scarletwoman]

9. As a Scorpio, I would gladly welcome our 8ft Aquatic Scorpion Overlords...

:evilgrin:

[LiberalEsto]

OMG!

Ancestor of Dick Cheney!

[thunder rising]

4. Imagine what the mosquitoes must have been like?

Those big-assed leather winged thing-asarouses.

[htuttle]

8. We still got those up in Wisconsin!

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Oh cool!

A long lost cousin. :evilgrin:

[scarletwoman]

6. Jabba the Hutt!

[AnnieBW]

7. Bud... Weis...Er...

That frog looks like it's been drinking too much Bud.

[Tummler]

10. Most frighteningly, it was able to use a pencil

Did it produce epic poems? Write angry letters to the editor? Or merely impale its prey/enemies with the pencil?

[malakai2]

11. Beelzebufo?

:rofl:

That reminds me of an undergraduate class where we briefly glossed over systematic nomenclature, and one of the projects was to create a tree from several specimens on a lab table, then name them according to convention. We had some creative names. Never thought I'd see something like that actually published.

[Judi Lynn]

12. AP: Scientists Find 'Devil Toad' Fossil

Scientists Find 'Devil Toad' Fossil
By LAURAN NEERGAARD – 14 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armor and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago — intimidating enough that scientists who unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad.

But its size — 10 pounds and 16 inches long — isn't 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 half 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, was published Monday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"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."

More:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hh__0QLBOxmvNKj5MRKAi7L6OvggD8UT037O3

[Hand]

13. Mmm... hatchling dinosaurs...

[Indenturedebtor]

14. WOW

And here I thought the "frog from hell" had already been identified:



Otherwise known as Vilicus Neo Conservitislime

I smell a fight! :P