There was once a elephantine frog that ate dinosaurs . Admittedly small dinosaur , but still . toad lean to use their long sticky tongues to catch food – but not these guys . They had a bite comparable to that of tigers and masher .
Researchers have estimated that the now extinctBeelzebufofrog , which live in Madagascar about 68 million years ago , had an passing telling collation , capable of crunch up small dinosaurs and crocodilians . Publishing their finding in Nature’sScientific Reports , they worked this out by measuring the sharpness of a fairly standardised , albeit smaller , mintage of frog that ’s still alive .
The South American horned salientian , a popular ducky due to its big appetite and amusing appearance , is sometimes nicknamed the “ Pac - man ” frog because of its giving smiling sass . Unlike most metal money , these frogs have stiff jaws and a knock-down pungency , thanks to their short , heavy bone structure and strong jaw muscles . This allows them to catch dangerous creature like snakes and rodents that often match them in size .
" Many hoi polloi determine horned frog uproarious because of their adult heads and fat , round bodies . Yet , these predator have given us a rare opportunity to learn something more about the biological science of a Brobdingnagian extinct frog , " say study author Sean Wilcox , a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California , Riverside , in astatement .
The researcher value the morsel force of horned frogs using a custom - made military unit transducer . basically it enjoin them how much force was applied to two leather - plow plate when a toad bit them . Frogs with head widths of 4.5 centimeters ( 1.8 inches ) bit with the force of 30 Newtons ( N ) .
" This is the first time bit force-out has been measure in a frog,“saidlead research worker Professor Kristopher Lappin , from California State Polytechnic University , Pomona . " And , speaking from experience , horn toad frog have quite an impressive bite , and they be given not to let go . The pungency of a largeBeelzebufowould have been noteworthy , decidedly not something I would want to have firsthand . "
Using their findings , the scientists estimated that much bombastic horned frog , with head widths of up to 10 cm ( 3.9 column inch ) could bite with a force of around 500 N.
" This would feel like having 50 litre of water balanced on your fingertip , " said Professor Lappin .
move on to the extinctBeelzebufofrog , the researchers estimated that this beast would have had a bite force out of 2,200 N – as impregnable as a king of beasts ’s jaw .
" At this insect bite force out , Beelzebufowould have been adequate to of conquer the small and juvenile dinosaur that shared its environment,“saidstudy generator Dr Marc Jones , of the University of Adelaide .
A frog that could bite with the effect of a king of beasts and eat pocket-sized dinosaurs , that ’s not terrify at all .
