Researchers from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the US have released details of this newly-discovered species of carnivorous (meat-eating) amphibian, Fedexia striegeli.

The creature's well-preserved skull was found near Pittsburgh International Airport. The skull is 11.5cm long and had miraculously not been crushed over the years. Most fossils become squashed over time by the layers of rock and earth above them. 

Experts have named the beast Fedexia striegeli, and say that it would have existed around 70 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared. Most amphibians around this time would have lived mostly in the water, but Fedexia spent most of its time on land. It would probably have returned to the water only to mate or lay eggs.

Scientists think that amphibians started to move onto land when sea levels dropped and more land was exposed, and the temperature started to rise.

Illustration by Mark A Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History