Devil Frog
Beelzebufo ampinga was a particularly large species of prehistoric frog first identified in 2007. Common names assigned by the media include "Devil Frog", "Devil Toad", and "the Frog from Hell". Fossils of Beelzebufo have been recovered from strata dating to the late Cretaceous Period, some 70 million years ago.
The generic name Beelzebufo is a portmanteau of Beelzebub (a Semitic deity sometimes identified as one of the chief lieutenants, or persona of the Judeo-Christian Devil) and bufo (Latin for "toad"). The specific name ampinga means "shield" in Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar.
The species may have grown to over 40 cm (16 in.) and four kg (10 lb.) — larger than any living frogs, including the largest known species, the goliath frog, which can be up to 32 cm (12.5 in.).
Although Beelzebufo appears to have lived in what is now Madagascar, it superficially resembled its closest living relatives, the horned toads of South America, marketed as pacman frogs in the United States pet trade. Modern pacman frogs grow to 15 cm (6 in.) long.
Richard Lane, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, said "The occurrence of this frog in Madagascar and its relatives' existence in South America provides strong evidence that the supercontinent Gondwana 'disassembled' during the latest part of the Cretaceous."
In comparison with the living horned frogs, Beelzebufo was a rapacious predator that would have attacked any animal that could fit into its capacious mouth, and would have been capable of eating relatively large prey, perhaps even juvenile dinosaurs. Beelzebufo was probably a dry-land frog, living in arid environments and ambushing prey.
The first fossil fragments were found in 1993 by David W. Krause of New York's Stony Brook University, but it took 14 years for scientists Susan E. Evans, Marc E. H. Jones, and Krause to assemble enough data for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Some 75 fossil fragments have been found. Researchers have been able to reconstruct parts of the frog's skeleton, including nearly the entire skull.
The generic name Beelzebufo is a portmanteau of Beelzebub (a Semitic deity sometimes identified as one of the chief lieutenants, or persona of the Judeo-Christian Devil) and bufo (Latin for "toad"). The specific name ampinga means "shield" in Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar.
The species may have grown to over 40 cm (16 in.) and four kg (10 lb.) — larger than any living frogs, including the largest known species, the goliath frog, which can be up to 32 cm (12.5 in.).
Although Beelzebufo appears to have lived in what is now Madagascar, it superficially resembled its closest living relatives, the horned toads of South America, marketed as pacman frogs in the United States pet trade. Modern pacman frogs grow to 15 cm (6 in.) long.
Richard Lane, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, said "The occurrence of this frog in Madagascar and its relatives' existence in South America provides strong evidence that the supercontinent Gondwana 'disassembled' during the latest part of the Cretaceous."
In comparison with the living horned frogs, Beelzebufo was a rapacious predator that would have attacked any animal that could fit into its capacious mouth, and would have been capable of eating relatively large prey, perhaps even juvenile dinosaurs. Beelzebufo was probably a dry-land frog, living in arid environments and ambushing prey.
The first fossil fragments were found in 1993 by David W. Krause of New York's Stony Brook University, but it took 14 years for scientists Susan E. Evans, Marc E. H. Jones, and Krause to assemble enough data for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Some 75 fossil fragments have been found. Researchers have been able to reconstruct parts of the frog's skeleton, including nearly the entire skull.
No comments:
Post a Comment