Beelzebufo

Skeletal reconstruction of Beelzebufo ampinga.

Madagascar

Beelzebufo ampinga ( = " armored devil toad " by Beelzebub = devil, Bufo (Latin ) = toad, ampinga ( malagasy ) = plate) is an extinct frog that lived in Madagascar in the Upper Cretaceous million years ago, about 65 to 70.

Fossil Description

1993 were first discovered remains of the frog. In total, more than 60 individual bones were found in the Maevarano formation in Madagascar to 26 sites within a radius of 1.8 kilometers, including skull fragments as well as almost all parts of porstkranialen skeleton. The rugged, heavily ossified skull of Beelzebufo was 20 inches wide and wider than long. The connection between the upper jaw and skull was particularly stable. The animal reached a length of more than 40 centimeters; so that it was larger than the longest extant Froschlurch, the African Goliath frog ( Conraua goliath ).

System

Beelzebufo similar in morphology to today's South African horn frogs ( Ceratophrys ). It is provided as their sister taxon together with them in the subfamily Ceratophryinae. His lifestyle resembled probably also of its present-day relatives; therefore Beelzebufo lived terrestrial; probably the animals have also been excavated. The strong jaws and sharp teeth can infer that Beelzebufo ate even small vertebrates.

Naming

The scientific name Beelzebufo is made up of the Hebrew name " Beelzebub " for the devil and the Latin name " Bufo " for toad. This should be referred to the special size and appearance of the Amphibs. The specific epithet ampigna means in Malagasy "shield" and refers to the fossilized skull of the animal and the Malagasy locality.

Importance of the fossil discovery

Today the Madagascar frogs ( Mantellidae ), mouthed ( Microhylidae ) and reed frogs ( Hyperoliidae ) are the only anurans in Madagascar. There are no more Hornfrosch relatives who had known only from South America up to that Fund. The discovery of Beelzebufo is an indication that could have a land connection between South America through Antarctica to South Africa and Madagascar exist in the Cretaceous period.

Source

Susan E. Evans, Marc EH Jones, David W. Krause: A giant frog with South American affinities from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0707599105 Abstract