A Kermit the Frog-inspired fossil that lived 270 million years ago has finally been identified, 40 years after it was unearthed in Texas.
Researchers from the Smithsonian Museum and George Washington University named the amphibian fossil Kermitops gratus after the Sesame Street character and said they hoped the name would get more people interested in science.
The fossilized skull is from a never-before-seen amphibian that has a unique combination of features from other ancient amphibian ancestors and is believed to have resembled a sturdy salamander.
A fossil of an amphibian that lived 270 million years ago was discovered 40 years ago in north-central Texas
Researchers named the fossil Kermitop gratus after the Sesame Street character Kermit the Frog. The team said they hope it will get more people interested in science
The fossil is the skull of an ancient amphibian that is believed to resemble a sturdy salamander
Kermitops was first discovered in the Red Beds of north-central Texas by the late paleontologist Nicholas Hotton III in 1984 and remained in the Smithsonian’s National Fossil Collection until 2021.
The Red Beds are an area of rust-colored rocks that contain the remains of reptiles, amphibians and sail-backed synapsids – a type of reptile that was a combination of a mammal and a lizard that could walk upright – that lived more than 270 million years ago.
Arjan Mann, a postdoctoral paleontologist at the Smithsonian, was sifting through the Smithsonian’s fossil collection when he noticed the strange skull.
“One fossil immediately stood out: this very well-preserved, largely prepared skull,” Mann said.
Arjan Mann found the fossil in the Smithsonian’s National Fossil Collection in 2021
He worked with Calvin So, a graduate student at George Washington University, to identify the skull
He worked with Calvin So, a doctoral candidate at George Washington University, to determine what caliber of amphibian the skull belonged to.
The skull appeared to have features of several other ancient amphibians, such as the area behind the eyes being shorter than the elongated, curved snout, which likely allowed it to pick up and eat small caterpillar-like insects.
Mann and So named the amphibian after Kermit because it resembles the muppet’s ‘big eyed face’ and ‘gratus’ as a tribute to Hotton and his team for uncovering the fossil.
“The use of the name Kermit has significant implications for how we can communicate the science done by paleontologists in museums to the general public,” So says.
“Because this animal is a distant relative of today’s amphibians, and Kermit is a modern-day amphibian icon, it was the perfect name for it.”
The discovery is an important starting point for paleontologists because the majority of early fossil fragments are fragments of their remains, making it difficult to understand the origins of frogs and salamanders.
According to the researchers, Kermit’s fully intact skull will help paleontologists trying to expand their knowledge of early amphibians and their family trees.
“This is an active area of research that many more paleontologists need to revisit,” Mann said.
“Paleontology has always been more than just dinosaurs, and there are a lot of cool evolutionary stories and mysteries waiting to be answered.
“We just have to keep looking.”