Field Museum student researchers Allison Sefcovic and Payton Kohlberg named a 309-million-year-old fossil species Jeanerpeton mazonensis ("Jean's crawler from Mazon Creek") in honor of their mothers, who are both named Jean.
Key Details
▫️The Researchers: Allison Sefcovic and Payton Kohlberg, interns at the Field Museum in Chicago and part of the lab group led by assistant curator Arjan Mann.
▫️The Fossil: Jeanerpeton mazonensis, a squat, salamander- and frog-like early amphibian ancestor from the Carboniferous period.
▫️Location: Discovered from the Mazon Creek fossil site in Illinois.
▫️Significance: The discovery rescued the specimen from a catch-all "waste bin taxon" (Amphibamus grandiceps) and preserves rare details like toe pads, scales, gastralia (belly ribs), and eye impressions.
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