13. This King-Size Frog Hopped With Dinosaurs

Source:

Bhanoo S. This King-Size Frog Hopped With Dinosaurs. The New York Times [Internet]. 2010 Feb 15 [cited 2010 Feb 19]. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/science/16frog.html?ref=science

The Stony Brook Medical Center now has a large prehistoric frog being displayed to the public. The frog is estimated to be the size of a beachball. This permanent exhibition also features other reconstructions of a vegetarian pug-nosed crocodile and a small meat-eating dinosaur. Due to its large size, scientist predict that it ate any prey that was available. The frog’s name is Beelzebufo ampinga. The frog reconstruction took over 15 years to create. This frog is predicted to have live 65 million years ago in a semi-arid environment. It was reconstructed to have sand colored skin and a pink because it lived in a desert environment. Scientist think that this frog is related to the modern day pac man frog. They assume that their ambush hunting tactics were similar. The exhibit also seeks to raise public awareness of Dr. Krause’s Madagascar Ankizy Fund which finances healthy clinics and schools in Madagascar.