Expert answer:Physical Science Discussion Question
Solved by verified expert:This article describes a fossil that is interesting from both a biological and a geological perspective. Clearly, further research is needed. What research results might confirm or refute the claims made in this article? I am attaching the document needed to do the assignment. Answer should be at least 250 words not including headings and etc.
chapter_18___devil_toad.pdf
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Scientists find ‘Devil Toad’
fossil
Discovery of bowling ball-sized frog raises ancient geography
questions
This artist rendering
shows a Beelzebufo
ampinga facing off
against the largest
known living Malagasy
frog, Mantydactylus
ampinga. A full-length
pencil provide size
perspective.
AP
By Lauran Neergaard
updated 4:47 p.m. CT, Mon., Feb. 18, 2008
WASHINGTON – A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armor and teeth, lived
among dinosaurs millions of years ago — intimidating enough that scientists who
unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad.
But its size — 10 pounds and 16 inches long — isn’t the only curiosity. Researchers
discovered the creature’s bones in Madagascar. Yet it seems to be a close relative of
normal-sized frogs who today live half a world away in South America , challenging
assumptions about ancient geography.
The discovery, led by paleontologist David Krause at New York’s Stony Brook University,
was published Monday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences .
“This frog, if it has the same habits as its living relatives in South America, was quite
voracious,” Krause said. “It’s even conceivable that it could have taken down some
hatchling dinosaurs.”
Krause began finding fragments of abnormally large frog bones in Madagascar, off the
coast of Africa, in 1993. They dated back to the late Cretaceous period, roughly 70
million years ago, in an area where Krause also was finding dinosaur and crocodile
fossils. But only recently did Krause’s team assemble enough frog bones to piece
together what the creature would have looked like, and weighed.
The largest living frog, the Goliath frog of West Africa, can reach 7 pounds. But Krause
teamed with fossil frog experts from University College London to determine that
Beelzebufo isn’t related to other African frogs.
It seems to be a relative of South American horned frogs, known scientifically as
Ceratophrys. Popular as pets, they’re sometimes called pacman frogs for their huge
mouths.
Like those modern frogs, Beelzebufo had a wide mouth and powerful jaws, plus teeth.
Skull bones were extremely thick, with ridges and grooves characteristic of some type of
armor or protective shield.
The name comes from the Greek word for devil, Beelzebub, and Latin for toad, bufo
(pronounced boo-foe).
The family link raises a paleontology puzzle: Standard theory for how the continents
drifted apart show what is now Madagascar would have been long separated by ocean
from South America during Beelzebufo’s time. And frogs can’t survive long in salt water,
Krause noted.
He contends the giant frog provides evidence for competing theories that some bridge
still connected the land masses that late in time, perhaps via an Antarctica that was
much warmer than today.
…
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