Giant amphibian 'Toadzilla' will join others like 'Yuk' and 'Bette Davis' at the Queensland Museum — but it may be a few months before the frozen specimen is ready for visitors.
"We're still figuring out how to get it down here," Dr Amey said.Once Toadzilla arrives, museum staff will work to preserve the poisonous pest and create a cast model for display.
"We use formaldehyde and that fixes the tissues, and then it goes into the scientific collection in a jar of alcohol, basically," Dr Amey said."They look really lifelike – sometimes you can't tell the difference."Toadzilla will also become part of the museum's database, with researchers able to examine the large pest through MRI scans.
"We can look at bone density, structure and how much fat content and muscle [she had] and whether she was healthy," Dr Amey said."[We can] see if there are differences between the morphology and anatomy of toads of that size compared to smaller, more normal-size toads."Dr Amey said they would also be able to understand just how Toadzilla came to be nearly 3kg and if people could expect to see more large toads hopping around backyards across Australia.
"They are known to eat other frogs, lizards — anything that's passing by that they can get in their mouth, they'll have a go at. "We can have a look at stomach contents, reproductive cycle, how many eggs they lay and at what time of the year if they reproduce year-round."
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