Weirdest fossil ever the ‘Beelze-frog’ was giant dog-sized toad that ate baby dinosaurs & had bite as strong as a TIGER

A GIANT pre-historic frog dubbed “Devil Toad” once roamed around the island of Madagascar terrorising rodents and eating baby dinosaurs.

One of the largest species that ever existed, the Beelzebufo frog was a wild predator with a bite force as strong as a female tiger.

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The now-extinct amphibian lived some 68 million years – and has been described by scientists as an “ill-tempered” and aggressive species.

Inhabiting the land of Madagascar, the wild beast could grow up to 16 inches in length – almost the size of a medium-breed dog such as a Fox terrier.

To study how the beast attacked with such an impressive bite force, scientists teamed up with pathologists to study the Horned frogs of South America – a similar species that lives today.

The horned frogs, also called Pacman frogs due to their large head size, are often found in tropical and subtropical moist lowlands.

With a head size of about 3.9 inches, the horned frogs can bite with force up to almost 500 newtons.

Researchers in 2017 did a scaling experiment studying the horned frogs to find out the estimated bite force of the now-extinct Beelzebufo frogs.

Based on the calculations, experts found that Beelzebufo, who had a head size greater than the horned frogs, could bite with force up to 2200 newtons – similar to that of a wolf or a baby tiger.

And with that much strength, scientists said the giant predator possibly attacked small dinosaurs.

Dr Marc Jones, a researcher at the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences. said: “At this bite force, Beelzebufo would have been capable of subduing the small and juvenile dinosaurs that shared its environment.

“And their powerful jaws play a critical role in grabbing and subduing the prey.”

Scientists concluded that, unlike other species of frogs and toads, Beelzebufo had a much stronger jaw – and would ambush animals as large as themselves – sometimes bigger.

Kristopher Lappin, a professor of biological sciences at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, said: “The bite of a large Beelzebufo would have been remarkable, definitely not something I would want to experience firsthand.”

Scientists first told the world about the “devil toad” in 2008 – almost a decade after bizarre fossil bits of the predator were first found.

Prof Susan Evans, who studied Beezebufo at UCL, said: “This frog would have been the size of a slightly squashed beach ball, with short legs and a big mouth.

“If it shared the aggressive temperament and ‘sit-and-wait’ ambush tactics of living 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 Beelzebufo might even have munched on hatchling or juvenile dinosaurs.”

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