In 1945, the zoological journal by the name of ‘Copeia’ published an article by Arthur Loveridge, a herpetologist at Harvard University. In this article, Loveridge described the story of an attack on a police officer in Tapili, Niangara (in the Democratic Republic of Congo) by what many believe to be a new species of toad.

In the article, it was said that as the officer was walking alongside a small pool of water in the late evening, an overly large toad leaped from the water, bit the man on his leg, and refused to let go. Yes, you read that sentence right, the mystery toad attacked the man and bit into his leg. As the man began to obviously panic, the toad continued to bite harder. In an attempt to remove the creature from his leg, the officer grabbed the club that he carried on him at all times and started to beat the toad with it. Eventually the amphibian loosened its grip on the man’s leg and the creature fell to the ground dead. Standing there in shock at what had just happened, the officer scooped up the body of the “monster” toad and brought it back to the village with him.

When the man returned to the town, he made sure to deliver the body of the toad to a man by the name of C. Caseleyr, the Administrator of the Niangara Territory. After retelling the story of what he had just experienced, the officer showed off the bloody puncture wounds in his leg which appeared to have been made by sharp fanged teeth and presented the lifeless body of the beast. Knowing without a doubt that the man before him was not lying, Mr. Caseleyr made quick work of examining the body of the dead amphibian.

The body of the toad was described as being very large and also very fat. The back legs of the toad were quite muscular and the overall shape of the amphibian was completely unlike that of other frogs and toads in the area. The skin was a mix of grey and green bumps and the entire creature appeared to lack any noticeable color except for the stomach which stood out with a bright orange patch. When Mr. Caseleyr opened the toads mouth, he unexpectedly discovered four large fanged teeth (much like those of sharp canine teeth) and a long forked tongue like that of a snake. When the examination was over, the curious locals in the area concluded that the dead creature before them was completely new and almost certainly one of a kind.

Word soon spread out of Niangara, across the world, and into the ears of excited researchers hoping for a chance to further study the famous Congo Fanged Toad. But as with all cryptid evidence, the body of the toad was haphazardly packed away and lost as time went on. Many claim that it is not impossible for a giant (monster) toad to remain undetected in the Congo region, and there are some researchers who still hold out hope that a new species of giant frog or toad (that would rival the Goliath Frog) may one day be discovered. But until that day comes, take caution when walking near darkened shallow pools and ponds, or you may end up in a situation where you may literally need to beat a toad to death in order to keep one of your limbs.

-The Pine Barrens Institute

*Image Credit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/206278879/monster-toad-head?show_sold_out_detail=1