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Amazing Photo Depicts Cane Toad Trying to Eat Bat [PHOTO]

By Jennifer Broderick | Update Date: Sep 25, 2013 01:21 PM EDT

A fantastic shot of a cane toad gobbling up a bat in Peru was captured by park ranger Yufani Olaya, according to according to NBC News.

"Out of nowhere the bat just flew directly into the mouth of the toad, which almost seemed to be sitting with its mouth wide open," Cerros de Amotape National park ranger Yufani Olaya told the Rainforest Expeditions blog.

The resulting photo almost looks like a new hybrid creature, as it appears the toad has a lengthy tongue and giant ears coming out of his head.

Yufani Olaya managed to snap the photo just before the toad gave up on trying to swallow the whole bat and let it fly free.

Adam Leaché, assistant professor of herpetology at the University of Washington, told NBC News: "Toads are voracious and will eat pretty much anything that moves and can fit in their mouth."

While the creatures can swallow large beetles and centipedes with ease, the bat was either too large or too furry for the hungry amphibian as it spat out its dinner.

"Toads are voracious and will eat pretty much anything that moves and can fit in their mouth," Adam Leaché, assistant professor of herpetology at the University of Washington, wrote in an email to NBC News. But, he added, "I've never seen something like this before."

"Since I first posted the image over the weekend, I've received messages from biologists who have also seen bats getting eaten in unusual ways - one by a large frog in Costa Rica, and another by a woodpecker in Texas," he said. "These types of unexpected species interactions probably occur much more often than we think, it's just that we're not always lucky enough to have a camera alongside to capture the moment."

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