The fossil skull of Kermitops (left) alongside a modern frog skull (Lithobates palustris, right). Kermitops is notable for more than just its namesake puppet persona. The early fossil record of amphibians and their ancestors is largely fragmentary, which makes it difficult to understand how frogs, salamanders and their kin originated. Adding relatives like Kermitops into the fold is essential for fleshing out the early branches of the amphibian family tree. Credit: Brittany M. Hance, Smithsonian Calvin So (left), a doctoral student at George Washington University, and Arjan Mann (right), a Smithsonian postdoctoral paleontologist and former Peter Buck Fellow, with the fossil skull of Kermitops in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History fossil collection. Credit: Phillip R. Lee Arjan Mann (right), a Smithsonian postdoctoral paleontologist and former Peter Buck Fellow, and Calvin So (left), a doctoral student at George Washington University, holding the fossil skull of Kermitops in front of the Kermit the Frog puppet display in the “Entertainment Nation” exhibition at the National Museum of American History. Credit: James D. Tiller and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian
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