/* */

PDA

View Full Version : 'Frog from hell' fossil unearthed



FatimaAsSideqah
02-20-2008, 11:09 PM
As Salaam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu


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.

"This frog, a relative of today's horned toads, would have been the size of a slightly squashed beach-ball, with short legs and a big mouth," explained co-author Susan Evans, from UCL's Department of Cell and Developmental Biology.

"If it shared the aggressive temperament and 'sit-and-wait' ambush tactics of [present-day] horned toads, it would have been a formidable predator on small animals.

"Its diet would most likely have consisted of insects and small vertebrates like lizards, but it's not impossible that Beelzebufo might even have munched on hatchling or juvenile dinosaurs."

The researchers added that the discovery of the fossil supported the theory that Madagascar and the Indian and South American land masses could have been linked until the Late Cretaceous Period (75-65 million years ago).

"Our discovery of a frog strikingly different from today's Madagascan frogs, and akin to the horned toads previously considered endemic to South America, lends weight to the controversial model," Professor Evans explained.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7251666.stm

Allah Hafiz
Sister Fatima
Reply

Login/Register to hide ads. Scroll down for more posts
Cabdullahi
02-20-2008, 11:12 PM
ay! Its sister righteous
Yeah that frog looks kinda cool subhanallah
Reply

Muezzin
02-21-2008, 11:20 AM
Heh. Sort of reminds me of that toad from Pan's Labyrinth...
Reply

IbnAbdulHakim
02-21-2008, 11:24 AM
^ that movie made me sick !! literally lol its too twisted


as for the frog from hell, lol :)
Reply

Welcome, Guest!
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up
ranma1/2
02-21-2008, 11:38 AM
maybe its the southern blood in me but im thinking frog legs...

Yum....
Reply

Keltoi
02-21-2008, 04:12 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Muezzin
Heh. Sort of reminds me of that toad from Pan's Labyrinth...
Yeah, I thought the same thing when I glanced at the picture.
Reply

MartyrX
02-21-2008, 04:19 PM
I can only imagine the aggressiveness with that frog. I have a Pac-Man frog or Horned frog and when it's supper time it gets fairly quick and accurate for how big it is.
Reply

Kidman
02-21-2008, 08:15 PM
I wonder what kind of research they did to come up with 70 million years old... I'm starting to research how they come up with the number of how many years old a fossil is and it seems very sketchy and could be totally false, it's more like a guess, not even an estimate, just some random number they want to choose
Reply

------
02-21-2008, 08:30 PM
:salamext:

The frog's obese :ooh:
Reply

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 4
    Last Post: 08-02-2012, 06:43 PM
  2. Replies: 46
    Last Post: 03-30-2011, 09:29 PM
  3. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 02-25-2011, 02:49 PM
  4. Replies: 20
    Last Post: 02-01-2011, 10:45 PM
British Wholesales - Certified Wholesale Linen & Towels | Holiday in the Maldives

IslamicBoard

Experience a richer experience on our mobile app!