Newest paper from the lab! Led by recent lab alum Maressa Kennedy, we utilized a novel nipple apparatus capable of modulating milk flow rate and stiffness to investigate the impact of multiple sensory inputs on suck-swallow-breathing coordination in an infant pig model. 🤖🐷🍼 doi.org/10.1152/japp...

Researchers have filmed thousands of climbing catfish scaling waterfalls, providing a rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4lDlFux

🚨 Hiring! We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in computational fluid dynamics and structural simulations to investigate biomechanics and mechanosensory feedback in insect flight. Extreme agility ✔️ Morphological computing ✔️ Meshes! ✔️ jobs.rvc.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

I'm recruiting a PhD student to join the lab at @gtsciences.bsky.social in Fall 2026! Broad taxonomic and topical freedom under the umbrella of vertebrate joint form and function. Information here: www.manafzadeh.com – please share 🦴🩻

New paper out in Pediatric Research! We found that feeding in infant pigs raised on a ducted, biomimetic nipple more closely resembled the mechanics of breastfeeding, and that differences in nipple design impacted milk acquisition and overall feeding performance 🐷🍼 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper led by recent lab alumni Hannah Shideler and postdoc Elska Kaczmarek is out in ICB @sicbjournals.bsky.social! For the first time ever, we reconstructed the volume of the oral cavity during suckling, and found that nipple design impacts tongue function. doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

The Mayerl Lab at NAU is looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026! We take an integrative approach that bridges engineering, clinical, and evolutionary approaches to study feeding physiology of vertebrates. Our lab website is linked in our bio, and feel free to reach out on here or via email.

It's #WorldSnakeDay so here is a green tree python I CT scanned for #oVertTCN 🐍 Get the datasets (both #diceCT and regular CT) on MorphoSource: www.morphosource.org/concern/biol... 💚💚💚

New #sensor technology expands the ability to track #neurochemicals. In PNAS Journal Club: www.pnas.org/post/journal... #dopamine #NeuralNetwork #schizophrenia #depression #CyclicAMP #DyeCaptureProtein

Our paper reviewing the neurophysiology of swallowing just came out! We detail 70 years of progress towards understanding neuromotor functioning in feeding, and highlight several emerging technologies for the future Check it out at the link below - journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10....

We finally made the leap to Bluesky! In the lab, we study links between morphology, physiology, and performance. We take an interdisciplinary approach that bridges both clinical and evolutionary perspectives.