Kermitops, the newly discovered prehistoric creature named after Kermit

March 22, 2024 5:46 AM

Meet Kermitops, the newly discovered prehistoric creature named after Kermit the Frog. There were definitely no muppets 270 million years ago, but there was a Kermit — or at least an ancestor of modern amphibians, according to scientists who uncovered its fossilised skull.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (16 comments total)

There were definitely no muppets 270 million years ago

That’s not very scientific. Muppets are mostly made of soft tissue, which doesn’t fossilize well in most situations.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:52 AM on March 22 [26 favorites]

Stanley: “What do you call the first animal to walk out of the Sea?”

Waldorf: “WRONG!!!”

Both: BAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAA
posted by nickggully at 6:16 AM on March 22 [21 favorites]

There are species of prehistoric Muppets that we only know from the remainders of their hand-sticks.
posted by Well I never at 6:16 AM on March 22 [5 favorites]

KermitOps is when you flail your arms around when there’s a service outage, but you always make sure the show continues.
posted by zamboni at 6:34 AM on March 22 [8 favorites]

Kermit Ops is the part of the war that he doesn't like to talk about.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:43 AM on March 22 [5 favorites]

Stanley:
Statler. They're named after the hotels.
posted by pracowity at 7:15 AM on March 22 [4 favorites]

Worth noting that the researchers themselves are delightfully muppety.
posted by HeroZero at 7:22 AM on March 22 [5 favorites]

A kermit-like proto-amphibian! This is very fun. In general, I enjoy when paleontologists with a sense of humor insert pop culture references into scientific names. There's Peltocephalus maturin named after a giant turtle imagined by Stephen King, and I can't find an article about it online but there's also a giant tortoise named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
posted by blueskies at 7:39 AM on March 22 [2 favorites]

Here's a supposed mix of Kermitops' peacocking and fighting rituals. It's hard to tell which, becuase it's mostly based on smell.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:42 AM on March 22

idly wondering if Kermitops also had to deal with a prehistoric Miss Piggy who did not leave the lizard alone.

sorry couldn't help it, that always cracks me up. I mean, lizard? really?
posted by martin q blank at 7:49 AM on March 22 [1 favorite]

Peltocephalus maturin is probably named for Stephen Maturin, a character in the Patrick O'Brian Napoleonic wars books who discovered a turtle and named it Testudo Aubreii after his friend Jack Aubrey!
posted by garbanzilla at 8:14 AM on March 22 [4 favorites]

The species name references Maturin, a recurring entity in the works of Stephen King said to be a giant turtle that created the universe. King in turn derived the name from the character of Stephen Maturin from the novel H.M.S. Surprise, in which he names a giant tortoise.

It’s Maturins all the way down.
posted by zamboni at 8:22 AM on March 22 [6 favorites]

Thanks zamboni - did not know that reference
posted by garbanzilla at 8:25 AM on March 22

[Kermit voice]"Kermitops the frog here, evolving out of the water. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY![/flails wildly]
posted by jonp72 at 8:53 AM on March 22 [4 favorites]

" 🎵 𝄞 its not easy being eocene 🎵 𝄞 "
posted by lalochezia at 10:37 AM on March 22 [6 favorites]

Ur Kermit. The concept has merit.
posted by y2karl at 3:04 PM on March 22