Nutty Nomenclature
All species of organism are given their own specific name by the taxonomist who first describes them. Every now and again the taxonomists allow themselves to have a little bit of fun. This is our guide to some more mischievously named species.
Name: Beelzebufo
Don’t get it? The name means 'devil toad'.
What is it? A soddingly large toad that lived 70 million years ago.
Where was it found? Madagascar.
When was it first named? Just now! The paper is about to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Who deserves the credit? Professor Susan Evans at University College London.
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Is there a picture? There certainly is, recreating the football-sized monster in glorious technicolour. Living towards the end of the dinosaur's reign, researchers think that Beelzebufo might well have snacked on the occasional baby dino as part of its diet of... well anything that it could fit in its enormous gob. The fossil was discovered on Madagascar, but looks much more like species currently found in South America. Evolutionists reckon that this is further evidence that East Africa and South America were once linked, whilst Creationists believe that God's just shitting with us. Check out some other weird species names here.
Null's other regular features:
Monday: Phunny Phobias
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of week timewasters
Title image: Alex Rosu/N
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