Lord of the Toads

Via Pharyngula, I see that there is a brand new toad in the fossil record. Beelzebufo was a 10-pound amphibian that lived 70 million years ago in what is now Madagascar. PZ Myers is pretty excited about it, and so am I. Finally, the toads get into the megafauna!

Myers glosses its name as "Devil Frog," while a few people in his comments think a more accurate translation is "Lord of the Toads." I tend to prefer the latter, just for aesthetics. It's likely we may find an even bigger relative. Hell, we already have Tyrannosaurus rex, yes? And it's not the largest therapod ever discovered. Calvinosaur is much bigger, you know.

Apparently this amphibian is thought to have been an ambush predator, content to sit in one spot until something wandered along, mouse, insect, some of the smaller dinosaurs and birds; then zap! goes the tongue and that mouth opens wide, wide. Brrrr!