Scientists find 'frog from hell' in Madagascar: 22-02-2008
The fossil of a giant frog has been uncovered in Madagascar, with scientists dubbing the 70 million-year-old Beelzebufo - frog from hell.
A team of scientists from University College London (UCL) and New York's Stony Brook University discovered the fossil with a body length of up to 40 centimetres.
Professor Susan Evans from UCL Biosciences likened the frog's size to "a slightly squashed beachball, with short legs and a big mouth".
She added that the frog is a relative of today's Horned toad, meaning that it might have shared its "aggressive temperament" and "sit and wait" approach to attacking their prey.
If this were the case, Prof Evans said it would have been a "formidable predator" and that while it was most likely that it would have eaten insects and lizards, "it's not impossible that Beelzebufo might even have munched on hatchling or juvenile dinosaurs".
The scientists believe that the discovery of the frog fossil suggests that once upon a time, Madagascar was connected to India and South America.
It was previously believed that such frogs, with squat bodies, a huge head and wide mouth, were only found in South America.
According to the Wild Madagascar website, the island is home to more than 300 frog species, of which all but one per cent are endemic.