Field trip yields fossil and fame

Pitt senior Adam Striegel discovered a completely new genus and species of a 300… Pitt senior Adam Striegel discovered a completely new genus and species of a 300 million-year-old amphibian while on a geology class trip with the University.

Striegel, a liberal studies major, found a fossilized skull on a field trip to a newly constructed road near the Pittsburgh International Airport in March. Initially, he thought the skull to be a rock, with an imprint of fern fronds.

Charles Jones, his instructor and a lecturer and undergraduate adviser in Pitt’s Department of Geology and Planetary Science, immediately noticed that those imprints were, in fact, a double row of teeth.

“I knew at that moment that this would be the nicest vertebrate fossil that I would probably ever touch,” he said.

Jones and Striegel took the skull to paleontologists at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in May.

According to David Berman, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the museum, it is only the third amphibian skull from this period to be found in the world.

The rock that encased the skull has been chipped away by Berman and a team of paleontologists, revealing a skull slightly larger than that of a large cat, with long rows of jagged teeth. The species has some characteristics of the modern-day crocodile. Although the species is new to science, it is thought to have belonged to a group of terrestrial-adapted amphibians living 300 million years ago.

“It’s great; it’s awesome,” Striegel said on Wednesday, adding, “it’s not just great for science but for me, too. I can’t express how happy I am about it.”

He has agreed to donate the fossil to the museum, which, he says, will be preparing the fossil and publishing its findings around the middle of next year.

Either the genus or the species is likely be named “Striegeli.”

After the discovery in the spring, scientists from the museum visited the site with hopes of finding the rest of the amphibian’s body, but were unsuccessful. They will return in coming months as vegetation dies off.

Striegel is currently reveling in the international attention his discovery has brought him.

“I’m getting all these phone calls from everyone at the moment,” he said. “It’s so unexpected.”

“The museum is very proud of the skull,” he added. “The whole thing is just great. I’m so happy about it all.”