Ol' Rip the Horned Toad returned to the courthouse. Some speculated that the body in the coffin was a substitute, with the real lizard being held in a private collection. Looney Tunes character, Michigan J. Frog was inspired by Ol' Rip's story. Ol' Rip the Horned Toad Ol' Rip (died January 19, 1929) was a horned lizard (commonly referred to as a "horned toad" or "horny toad") whose supposed 31-year hibernation as an entombed animal is believed by some and doubted by others. His name is a reference to the fictional character Rip Van Winkle. In 1897, a horned lizard was placed in a cornerstone
Golden toad led bachelors to attack amplectant pairs and form what has been described as a "writhing masses of toad balls". During the 1977 and 1982 seasons, males outnumbered females by over 8 to 1 at breeding pools. Each toad couple produced 200–400 eggs each week for the six-week mating period, with each egg approximately 3 mm in diameter. The eggs of the golden toad, black and tan spheres, were deposited in small pools often no more than one-inch deep. Tadpoles emerged in a matter of days, but required another four or five weeks for metamorphosis. During this period, they were highly