A
team of researchers in Madagascar has discovered the fossil of what may
be the largest frog to have ever lived. The beach-ball-size amphibian,
which grew to be 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) long and weighed about 10
pounds (4.5 kilograms), is scientifically named Beelzebufo, or ‘devil
frog.’Paleontologist David Krause of Stony Brook University in New York made the discovery and is collaborating with other scientists to determine how Beelzebufo is related to other frogs and to understand how and why they are on the island of Madagascar. Fossil frog experts Susan Evans and Marc Jones of the University College London agree that the new frog represents the first known occurrence of a fossil group in Madagascar with living relatives in South America.
