Newly Discovered Fossil from the Smithsonian’s Collection Named After Kermit the Frog #fossils #paleontology #smithsonian #kermitthefrog #vertebrate #kermit #permian #amphibian

Researcher Calvin So holds the fossil skull of Kermitops, a new species of ancestral amphibian discovered in the museum’s collection, next to the Kermit the Frog puppet on display in the Entertainment Nation exhibition at the National Museum of American History. James D. Tiller and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian

Smithsonian Magazine has an article about a new species named for the Muppet character Kermit the Frog.  Kermitops gratus lived during the early Permian in what is now Texas, about 280 million years ago.   The paper's authors Calvin So, Arjan Mann, and Jason Pardo describe the new species as a pro-amphibian.  The skull fossil was part of a large collection found during an expedition in 1984, which was led by Smithsonian paleontologist Nicholas Hotton.  The paper was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

Kermitops was originally collected in 1984 during an expedition in Texas by Smithsonian paleontologist Nicholas Hotton. But Hotton and his team collected so many fossils at the time that they could only examine a fraction of them. When Mann was sifting through some of Hotton’s fossils in 2021, a nickel-sized skull of an ancient amphibian ancestor caught his eye. He teamed up with So to take a closer look, and the two ended up discovering a new member of the amphibian extended family tree.

Kermitops gratus joins a growing group of species named after famed puppeteer Jim Henson and his lovable Muppet and Sesame Street characters. Several of Henson’s most famous puppets are now housed in the collection of the National Museum of American History. From sea slugs to spiders, researchers all over the globe have been inspired to come up with Muppet-themed monikers for their new discoveries.

The fossil skull of the ancient amphibian ancestor Kermitops gratus (left) alongside a modern frog skull (Lithobates palustris, right). Brittany M. Hance, Smithsonian