A new amphibian species that lived in Australia 247 million years ago have been identified by scientists.
The discovery puts an end to a riddle that has enthralled scientists since the 1990s when the creature’s fossilized remains were discovered by a retired poultry farmer in New South Wales.
Globally, fewer than ten fossils of the lizard-like species have been identified.
According to experts, the discovery could “rewrite the evolution of amphibians in Australia.”
Mihail Mihaildis discovered the unusual fossil almost three decades ago, thanks to a broken garden wall at his home in Umina, around a 90-minute drive north of Sydney.
To solve the problem, the elderly poultry farmer acquired a 1.6-tonne sandstone slab. However, as he cut through the stone’s outer layers, the immortalized outline of an unknown species revealed itself.
Mr. Mihaildis informed the Australian Museum in Sydney of his finding, and in 1997 he turned over the fossil.
Lachlan Hart, the paleontologist who would eventually interpret its petrified remains, first saw it as a child in a climate-controlled display area.
“I was obsessed with dinosaurs… and so 12-year-old me saw that fossil on display back in 1997. And then 25 years later it became part of my Ph.D., which is insane,” Mr. Hart says.
Mr. Hart claims it was “dumb luck” that his team, which was investigating life in Australia’s Triassic age 250 million years ago, was handed the fossil to identify.
Mr. Hart notes that the mold comprises a “nearly complete skeleton,” which is almost unheard of.
“It’s got the head and the body attached, and the fossilization of the creature’s skin and fatty tissues around the outside of its body – all of that makes this a really rare find.”
Mr. Hart and his colleagues think the amphibian was 1.5m long and had a salamander-like body based on the data. Arenaepeton supinatus, which means “sand creeper on its back” in Latin, has been named after the newly discovered species.
According to scientists, the carnivorous amphibian previously resided in Sydney’s freshwater lakes and streams. This species is a member of the Temnospondyli family of frogs, which have survived two of the Earth’s five mass extinction events, including a sequence of volcanic eruptions that wiped out 70-80% of all dinosaurs 66 million years ago.