Mar 15, 2024
Happy Fossil Friday!
Who: Beelzebufo "The Devil Toad"
name meaning: Beelzebub (Lord of the Flies), toad
pronunciation: Bee-ell-ze-boof-oh
What: A horned toad
When: Late Cretaceous
Where: Madagascar
Fun fact!: Is the largest known frog species to have ever existed
Why are they cool?: The head was likely covered in scutes (bits of bony scale-like bone like the plates on the back of a crocodile) giving it a horned, protected cap of bone across its head.
Image Credits: (Right: Prehistoric Planet [TV], Left: New Material of Beelzebufo, a Hyperossified Frog (Amphibia: Anura) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar)