Scientists preparing for the arrival of a 2.7-kilogram cane toad say the amphibian is expected to attract big crowds once it makes its 1,100km journey to the Queensland Museum.
The whopping 25-centimetre toad, named Toadzilla, was discovered by rangers on the side of a hiking trail in Conway National Park near Airlie Beach in January.
Collection manager for herpetology Andrew Amey anticipates the unsightly amphibian will become a new attraction for the museum.
"It's certainly a lot bigger than you usually see in your backyard," Dr Amey said.
"I think people will be curious and perhaps horrified to see it."
Toadzilla will be one of the largest toads in the museum's history, alongside Bette Davis, who wasn't preserved but was said to have striking features.
"The former curator of amphibians, Dr Glen Ingram, took a fancy to the toad and named it after Bette Davis because she had such beautiful eyes," Dr Amey said.
"Yuk" is currently the largest cane toad on display at the museum at 23 centimetres long.
But it may be a few months before the frozen Toadzilla is ready for visitors.
"We're still figuring out how to get it down here," Dr Amey said.
"Then it'll be a couple weeks in preservatives before it's ready to go into the collection."
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.
"We have some very skilled artists here at the museum and they paint up the casts.
"They look really lifelike – sometimes you can't tell the difference."
Amphibian research
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.
"She certainly seems to be very healthy.
"[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."
