Since I wrote that book on the dinosaurs found in Arizona, Dinosaurs Roamed Arizona, I’ve been intrigued by ancient fossils. Reptiles are pretty easy to find in ancient fossils, but amphibians are much more difficult. Reptiles had scales that endured the fossilization process; amphibians had water-permeable skin that degraded too quickly.
Kermit the Fossil
That’s why I was excited to read an article about an ancient amphibian ancestor being found and, more importantly, being named after Kermit the Frog! Kermit is one of my favorite characters. I always enjoy his performances; I sing along with his songs. I sang to a Kermit puppet in a performance with the Kalamazoo singers. Kermit the Frog was created and performed by Jim Henson. He became famous through his TV shows and movies.
Discovered in a collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Kermitops gratus was identified from a skull. The inch-long skull has large, oval-shaped eye sockets reminiscent of the puppet Kermit. The shape of the skull, different from previously found fossils, suggested to the scientists that the ancient amphibian resembled a stout salamander. They even suggest that this creature ate tiny grub-like insects. The fact that scientists can deduce such intricate details from a fossil is truly astounding.
This skull is the holotype for both the genus and the species. Kermitops means “Kermit face.” K. gratus lived 270 million years ago in the Permian period.
I wonder if K. gratus was green?
For more information about this ancient amphibian: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2024/march/ancient-amphibian-species-named-after-kermit-the-frog.html
