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Published online 18 February 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.607
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Giant frog found in Madagascar
'Frog from hell' fossil hints at later split of continents.
A giant frog that hopped around Madagascar 65–70 million years ago has been discovered.
Fossil fragments show that the frog, called Beelzebufo ampinga, could have measured 20 centimetres across its squat head, and probably more than 40 centimetres from snout to tail.
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If this fossil had been found off the other coast of Africa, it might have been cited as a perfect example of a species showing the former connection of Africa with South America, with no questions asked or doubts expressed. Maybe the existence of species with distant links (the distribution of crayfish is another example) should suggest other forces than plate tectonics and land bridges had important roles to play. Rafting has been suggested in some biblical (post-)Flood models and was also suggested by Charles Darwin in his _Origin_ as an important mode of distribution. The suggestion that this frog is a case of apparent convergence is another one worth considering, as there are a number of surprising cases where that has been determined to be the case.
I hope genetic engineers will try to improve present day frog size to that extent to satisfy the need of frog leg eaters;science fiction writers and film makers will use this fact in their next creation with great imagination.