Scientists working in Madagascar have found what may be the largest frog that ever lived.

The bad-tempered Beelzebufo, or "devil frog," also poses a big mystery—Why do its closest relatives live half a world away in South America?

Paleontologist David Krause of Stony Brook University in New York and his colleagues began unearthing the specimen in bits and pieces more than a decade ago.

Over the years a 75-piece puzzle emerged that was only recently put together by fossil-frog expert Susan Evans of University College London.

Evans, lead author of a new paper detailing the find, describes the 70-million-year-old frog as a rather intimidating animal the size of a beach ball, 16 inches (41 centimeters) high and weighing