Extracting generic class information from generified classes

gistfile1.java

    private ParameterizedType findParameterizedClass(Class clazz) {
        if (clazz.getGenericSuperclass() != null && clazz.getGenericSuperclass() instanceof ParameterizedType) {
            return (ParameterizedType) clazz.getGenericSuperclass();
        } else {
            if (clazz.getSuperclass() != null) {
                return findParameterizedClass(clazz.getSuperclass());
            } else {
                throw new ClassCastException(clazz.getName() + " is not generic.");
            }
        }
    }

    ...

    Class<T> targetClass = (Class<T>) findParameterizedClass(this).getActualTypeArguments()[0];

gistfile2.java

public class Something extends SomeOther<Thing> {

}