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Genus of extinct amphibamiform temnospondyls
Kermitops
(meaning "
Kermit
face") is an
extinct
genus of
amphibamiform
temnospondyl
from the
Early Permian
Clear Fork Formation
of
Texas
, United States. The genus contains a
single species
,
K. gratus
, known from a partial cranium.
Discovery and naming
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The
Kermitops
holotype
specimen,
USNM
407585, was discovered by
Nicholas Hotton III
and field scientists from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in April 1984. The
type locality
is represented by the lower sediments of the Clear Fork Formation near
Lake Kemp
in
Wilbarger County
,
Texas
, United States. The specimen consists of most of the
skull roof
, a partial
braincase
, and the
mandibles
. Most of the
palate
is not preserved, except for some incomplete
vomerine
teeth. The marginal teeth are not readily observable.
[1]
[2]
In 2024, So, Pardo & Mann
described
Kermitops gratus
as a new genus and species of amphibamiforms based on these fossil remains. The
generic name
, "
Kermitops
", combines a reference to
Kermit the Frog
?the famous amphibian character from
the Muppets
?with the
Greek
suffix "-ops", meaning face. The
specific name
, "
gratus
", means "gratitude" in
Latin
, honoring Nicholas Hotton III and the others who aided in collecting the holotype specimen.
[1]
Classification
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In their 2024 description, So, Pardo & Mann performed multiple
phylogenetic analyses
; the fossil skull preserves an ossified element that may represent the
basioccipital
, and the coding of this character as "present" or "absent" altered their results. In their Bayesian inference analyses,
Kermitops
was consistently recovered as the
sister taxon
to
Plemmyradytes
. The
cladogram
with the basioccipital scored as "present" is displayed below:
[1]
References
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]