New from the Near Lab, Chase Brownstein takes the lead documenting the geographic distribution of the imperiled Birmingham Darter (Etheostoma birminghamense), described in April 2025 in an effort led by Chase. Much of this study is from observations made during October 2025. shorturl.at/Pd4iU

New from the Near Lab. Grad student Julia Wood takes the lead on the description of four beautiful new species of darters! shorturl.at/ncY79

Kassandra L Ford, Rose Peterson, Kory M Evans, Adam P Summers, James S Albert, 2026. Radiations and morphological divergence: complex craniofacial evolution in a diverse group of African electric fishes (Mormyridae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 206, Issue 4. 🐟🧪

Wake up, babe, a new Cretaceous Kraken just dropped.

Interesting that these two remora specimens my lab picked up in Taiwan 🇹🇼 are so different. The sucking disc is a hyper modified dorsal fin. But the one on the left has two distinct ones? Anyone know whadupwitdat? @flammanglab.bsky.social #ichthyology #teratology

1/10 🚨🚨🚨 New paper on dinosaur evolution! Chris Griffin and I look at why we can't seem to figure out how the major groups are related! It might be a hint about how dinosaurs came to be! Photo: Anchisaurus @yalepeabodymuseum royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

For the last day of class in Comparative Neuroanatomy we do an open house so that the students can teach everything they have learned to the public. We always get great questions and as a bonus we were lucky enough to be hosted at the ALMNH this year! 🧠 🧪

Cocaine Bear and Cocaine Shark might have just been campy horror films, but Cocaine Salmon are the real deal. 🐟🧪

What if the name written into legal protections isn't a valid taxonomic name? Is the species unprotected? Some fantastic on-site indigenous/academic collaboration and quotes www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/s...

Crispim JL, P Argüello, GSC Silva, C Oliveira, KR Luckenbill & MH Sabaj, 2026. After eight decades: a new species of Pterobunocephalus (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) from the upper Putumayo, Napo and Pastaza rivers, Ecuador. Neotropical Ichthyology 24:e250162.🐟🧪 doi.org/10.1590/1982...

Dr. Chris Bizon, Director of Data Science and Analytics at RENCI and Dr. Lily Hughes, Research Curator of Ichthyology at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, highlighting how artificial intelligence illuminates our understanding of the Museum’s ichthyology collections.🐟🧪

Assorted parts of the paratype of the giant Late Cretaceous coelacanth Megalocoelacanthus dobiei (AUMP 3834) from the Mooreville Formation of Alabama #FossilFriday

Tell me you spoil your pet fish without telling me you spoil your pet fish. 🤣

How Female Anglerfish Evolved to Have It All www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/s...

This bird was stunning! Here is my shot of the same male Indigo Bunting right before it was released after being tagged by Alabama Audubon.

This is lovely: www.theguardian.com/environment/... #science #biology

Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today theonion.com/biologists-c...

Bumping to the Fishes! and Science feeds. 🐟🧪

This one may be a little ugly, but we still love it: Asian Sheepshead Wrasse! #LetsChangeThat

My latest for @sciam.bsky.social is all about the real biology, ecology, and climate science that is used to create the world of Pokémon, and how scientists use it to teach science in the real world. This is just about the most fun I’ve ever had interviewing anyone, and I hope you enjoy! 🧪🌎

‼️NEW ANGLERFISH PAPER! 🐟🎣 So excited to share the final part of my Master’s research! We explore the bizarre tacklebox of anglerfish lures and show how these fishes evolved different ways to attract prey and maybe even mates in the deep sea. 🧪🦑🌊🦇🦀 Open access paper link: doi.org/10.1643/i202...

Hi! I'm not here very often, but I just launched my brand new lab website! I'm also hiring a !!! three-year !!! Postdoc. Interest form link can be found under "The Team" section. (Current domain name is temporary haha. FormorphologyLab dot com coming soon!) badger-mustard-h5jf.squarespace.com

LOOK AT THE BABY LYSTROSAURUS

A new study on iNaturalist users: Highly and casually active citizen scientists contribute equally valuable data www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/high...

African frogs haven’t forgotten the ice ages. 🐸🧊 A new study shows ancient forest refugia in Central Africa align with the modern diversity of frogs. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/afri... Study: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Student Spotlight! 🌟 Check out the latest article featuing KU Ichthyology graduate student @anoplogaster.bsky.social's research on the evolution of anglerfishes' lures. His study, in collaboration with Matthew Davis revealed that these lures serve a dual purpose: attracting both food and mates.

Yes, scientists and museum visitors are missing out every time one of these exemplar specimens are sold and hidden away in private collections.

HIGHLY Requested: Thresher Sharks! #LetsChangeThat

Last week's new article is up on my blog, all about the amazing Megachelicerax! If you want articles like this before anyone else, sign up for my newsletter: buttondown.com/restingdinoface

Omg look what Chris our Marketing Director just made for me! These bumper stickers are PERFECT!

Erm, they're called palaeontologists, actually.

Stopped by briefly at @calacademy.bsky.social with my family where I got to see @coralreeffish.bsky.social and his awesome coral 🪸 reef fish exhibit and fish collections. Amazing to learn that some of the animals he brought back are breeding and helping conserve these species.

May the Easter Eurypterid bring you good things!

#HappyEaster🐰 from your friends at WitmerLab! A crunchy take on that traditional favorite this #Easter — now with added calcium! @ohiouniversity.bsky.social @ouhcom.bsky.social #rabbit #easterbunny #oryctolaguscuniculus #OUµCT #microCT #chocolatebunny

Tiny shellear fish in central Africa scale a 50-foot vertical waterfall using suction cups and tiny hooks. This convergent evolution places them with some island gobies and Brazilian bumblebee catfish, who all do world class bouldering. 🐟🌍 phys.org/news/2026-04...

SICB's April lunch zoom is coming up with @biologycarly.bsky.social ! carlyanneyork.wixsite.com/website on April 6th 12 noon est join us by emailing [email protected] to receive a link Carly will be interviewed by #scientist & #writer @rchoover.bsky.social of www.kassandraford.com/people

Dave attended the Dinos and MOR Festival at Museum of the Rockies 🦖 where he met Jase: a 10 year old with a ✨️passion✨️ for paleontology. On behalf of Paleo Nerds, we bid and won a beautiful 3D print of a mosasaur skull made by Triebold Paleontology for Jase. Never have we ever seen a kid so happy!

Three-dimensionally preserved skull of Arothron from the Pleistocene of Taiwan: palaeo-electronica.org/content/2026...

Do you have Fossil FOMO? Our Fossil Excursions are selling out fast, but we still have available spots on Thursday, July 23 and Saturday, August 8! Register Online: → bit.ly/3Mbf8c2

Not only do baby Brama fish sit on jellyfish all day, they sit on jellyfish so much that they’ve evolved special cup-shaped fins to improve their jelly grip. Scientists only figured this out in 2021 when someone decided to jump in the water and watch them in the wild!

What do you get when you mix schooling fish and metal music? 🐟🤘 Pure coordinated chaos. No leader. No plan. Just instinct, motion, and energy—like an underwater mosh pit. We channeled that into 1 hour of schooling fish to mosh to. Get ready to rockfish! mbayaq.co/4sMdpwU

Tierney Thys was truly an amazing advocate for the oceans and for the wonderful ocean sunfish, Mola mola, and its relatives. A grad school friend in the Wainwright lab at Duke, truly saddened to hear that she is gone. Great tribute by her sister. 🐟🧪🌿🦑 thys-danielle.medium.com/the-ocean-le...

This is no April Fools' joke! You can now register online for Alabama Museum of Natural History's Fossil Excursions! These trips often sell out and registrations are first-come, first-served. → bit.ly/3Mbf8c2

Are you a biologist with a focus on malacology or invertebrate zoology? The MCZ is looking to hire a Curatorial Assistant in our malacology department! Apply at https://bit.ly/4sbHCnL

Looking for some family fun this summer? Registration for the Alabama Museum of Natural History's Fossil Excursions will open on April 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.! Register Online: → bit.ly/48i0cU8

Hey, museum educators 📣! APPLY to this awesome job in the Education Department at Museum of the Rockies: jobs.montana.edu/postings/50937

Otolith-based snapshot of a Pliocene South Asian freshwater fish community with gobies, gouramis, and snakeheads. A significant find, given the limited information on fossil freshwater fishes in the region: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A new species of the Cretaceous coelacanth Macropoma identified from an old museum specimen: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

New crustacean named after its unique butt www.popsci.com/environment/...

New barracudina just dropped 🎉 We see a LOT of these long, toothy deep sea fishes in our swordfish stomachs - exciting to be able to ID them more accurately in the future! www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-stor...