Snack size and party size. Thorny skates have a large distribution, but there's been a mystery about why individuals of this species along the coast of North America come in two distinct sizes, irrespective of sex. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/thor... Illustration by Jorge Machuky

Scientist Spotted 🦏 Advait Jukar, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology here at the Museum, quoted in a National Geographic article about woolly rhino tissue recovered from the stomachs of mummified wolf puppies in northeastern Siberia: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti... 🐺🐺

Museum Collections 🪝 Faunal Fishhook Gallery Learn the terminology of fish hooks, browse the gallery and have a look into how our researchers investigate the cultural history of our state through these rare discoveries: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/flarch/colle...

“We had to go on a rescue mission and get as many fossils out as possible, and we got a lot of them,” Lazaro said. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/pale... A friendly competition between colleagues revealed an unusual story about hutias, giant barn owls & burrowing bees in a Caribbean cave.

Museum Resource 🐍 Florida Snake ID Guide Easy visual ID and searchable tool for learning about our state's snakes including habitat, range, diet & lookalikes. Featured: Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) Full info and explore more: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-snak... NON-VENOMOUS

Online Exhibit 🪶 Rare, Beautiful & Fascinating Feature: Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) "The Passenger Pigeon is maybe the most dramatic extinction story that we have in North America," said David Steadman. 🎧 Read the story + listen to Dave: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/100-years/ob...

Museum Resource 🐟 Fishes in the Fresh Waters of Florida Explore our state's freshwater fish species and click through to collection records, photos and map. Shown: Swamp Darter (Etheostoma fusiforme), native to Florida's freshwaters 🔗 More info & browse: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fis...

Exhibit #SciArt 🎨 Florida Pleistocene Paleontologists have found Pleistocene fossils in almost every county in Florida, speaking to our state’s rich biodiversity during this period. 🗝️ Check out the exhibit art + key, and fossils from our collections: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/blo...

Our scientists and students had a busy year! Catch up on our 2025 research news on our website: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/

Research 2025 #YearInReview 💧 Biologists found an amphibian called a caecilian hiding away in a Florida canal in 2019. The species is native to South America, but a recent study by Coleman Sheehy and team show that they're now firmly established in Florida. Paper: journals.ku.edu/reptilesanda...

Last call! We're hiring 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager 📌 Apply by Jan 5, 2026 This position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach & pursue external funding. 🔸 Full info + application: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver...

Scientist Spotted 💧 Akito Kawahara (@dr-akito.bsky.social), director of our McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, spoke to Scientific American about this rare sighting of lachryphagy - tear drinking - this time involving moths and a moose: www.scientificamerican.com/article/phot...

2025 #YearInReview 👏👏👏 It was a big year for our faculty, staff and students! Alongside notable faculty and staff changes, our researchers and student scientists were recognized with a wide variety of awards for their work. Read some of these stories: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/topi...

Local students connected with our archaeologists as they prepared for an upcoming robotics competition. The team's robot-building challenge includes an innovation project: identifying and proposing a solution to a real-world problem in archaeology. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/stud...

A friendly competition between colleagues revealed an interesting story about hutias, giant barn owls and burrowing bees in a Caribbean cave. Paleontologists find first bee nest fossils made inside fossilized bones www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/pale... Illustration by Jorge Machuky

We are proud to present our fiscal year 2024–2025 annual report. This past year has been one of tremendous change and growth for the Florida Museum! For a full review of our faculty accomplishments, staff and student activities, financials & more: 📘 www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/feature/annu...

From the field ✈️ Sajan K C and Anisha Sapkota conducted a field survey of Giant Skippers across western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Read about it: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/from-... 🐛 Travel funding supports professional development of student researchers at the Florida Museum.

“If you’re not sharing what you do, what’s the point?” A new survey shows museum faculty, staff and students feel that giving people a look at what goes on behind the scenes is a crucial part of their job. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/muse... Study: doi.org/10.1111/cura...

Tom and John Emmel and Sterling Mattoon officially began their work on “The Butterflies of California” book in 1974. Now, more than 50 years after they began, the book draft has officially been published online and is freely available to the public: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/the-... 🦋📕

Exhibit #SciArt 🎨 Florida Pleistocene Paleontologists have found Pleistocene fossils in almost every county in Florida, speaking to our state’s rich biodiversity during this period. 🗝️ Check out the exhibit art + key, and fossils from our collections: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/blo...

Alia Donly, a Utah State University student, traveled here to the McGuire Center to image and DNA sample all of our specimens of the Sand Mountain Blue butterfly (Euphilotes pallescens arenamontana) that lives on a single dune system in Nevada. Read more: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/mcguire/news...

Congrats! 👏👏👏🦋 Four of our @ufl.edu students were recognized at the Entomological Society of America’s 2025 meeting. Proud of the hard work of Anastasia Baluk Garavaglia, Jahir Rayhan, Skyla Sheehy & Rachel Walsh! #EntSoc25 More: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/the-... 📸: @swamplily.bsky.social

We're hiring! 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager This position will manage the IP collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach & pursue external funding. 🔸 Full info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver... 🔸 Apply via @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Scientists used a World War II-era statistical method on hundreds of museum specimens to determine whether extinct species were predominantly aquatic or terrestrial, clearing up some ongoing debates in paleontology. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/from... Study: doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Online Exhibit 🌊 Rare, Beautiful & Fascinating Feature: Cross-section of Hard Clam (Mercenaria campechiensis) Clam shells form yearly growth rings that record changes in the marine environment during the life of the animal. 🎧 More with Doug Jones: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/100-years/ob...

Museum Resource 🏺 Caribbean ceramic ID Saladoid is #FancyAF, polychrome painting with a glossy finish, est. 800-200 BC in Venezuela, spread into Puerto Rico & the Lesser Antilles. Emily Kracht created these info cards for Ceramic Tech Lab. Check them out: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/ceramiclab/b...

Scientist Spotted 🦣 BBC talked to our paleontologist Advait Jukar about fossils preserved in Florida's freshwater springs and how they help researchers understand our past and present biodiversity. Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...

Good photography is a powerful tool to help tell stories and capture imaginations. 👏👏👏 Congrats to our staff Mariela Pajuelo, Kristen Grace & Jeff Gage, each recognized for their photography featuring elements of natural and cultural history! 📸 Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/thre...

Welcome Natalie Binder 👏👏👏 Natalie is our new operations manager for the Randell Research Center, a historically and ecologically unique site on Pine Island, FL. She looks forward to building on her roots as a librarian and public educator with us: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/flor...

Exhibit #SciArt 🎨 Florida Pleistocene During warm interglacial periods, some of Florida might have appeared much like it does today in the undisturbed areas of our state. 🗝️ Check out the species in the art + key, and related fossils from our collections: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/blo...

Work with us! 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager Position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach, & pursue external funding. 🔸 Full info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver... 🔸 Apply @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

#ICYMI 🦪 Scientists and conservationists are racing to rebuild sustainable oyster populations, something that Indigenous communities were able to steward for millennia. Archaeologists are looking in ancient middens for more data: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/when...

Scientists discover telephone-cord-like optic nerves in chameleons, which were overlooked by Aristotle, Newton, and everyone else, until now... Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/scie... Study: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Only eat oysters in months with an ‘r’? Rule of thumb is at least 4,000 years old 🦪 www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/oyst... "Oysters in the Southeast spawn from May to October, and avoiding oyster collection in the summer may help replenish their numbers."

#SciArt Spotlight 🎨 Florida Pleistocene This exhibit painting brings to life what the marine environments around Florida might have looked like during the Pleistocene. 🗝️ Check out the species in the art + key, and related fossils from our collections: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/blo...

Scientists and conservationists are racing to rebuild sustainable oyster populations, something that Indigenous communities were able to steward for millennia. 🦪 Archaeologists are looking in ancient middens for more data: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/when... Study: doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

Tempered by time, Choctaw pottery connects ancestral past with living present www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/temp... A question for archaeologists was why Pensacola potters elected to use oyster and clam shells as well as the freshwater mussel shells used by the broader Mississippian culture.

#SpookySeason Skeletons 🩻 Online Exhibit Museum technology is shifting how fish skeletons are processed, providing more access for research, education, outreach & global collaboration. Inner Beauty 🐠 Skeletons Revealed from the Museum’s Fish Collection www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/onl...

Last call! 👉 NAGPRA Bioarchaeologist and Coordinator This is a this full-time, TEAMS exempt staff position. 🏛️📌 Apply by Oct 31, 2025 🔸 Full position info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/caree... 🔸 Apply via @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Last call! 👉 Florida Museum Registrar 🏛️📌 Apply by Oct 31, 2025 The Registrar oversees the technical and regulatory aspects of collection accessions, permitting, & exchanges. 🔸 Full position info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/caree... 🔸 Apply via @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Online Exhibit 🌿 Rare, Beautiful & Fascinating Feature: Florida Yew (Taxus floridana) This critically endangered native Florida plant produces Taxol, an anticancer drug. Florida yew is not harvested commercially due to its rarity. 🎧 With Kent Perkins: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/100-years/ob...

Congrats Elise! 👏👏👏 The Southeastern Museums Conference has recognized Florida Museum registrar Elise LeCompte with the James R. Short award, given in honor of lifetime (20+ years) service in the field. About her career (and recent retirement): www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/elis...

Devil’s tooth fungus 😈 Spooky natural history This alien fungus is sure to unsettle even the bravest mycologists! When it absorbs excess moisture, it exudes a red liquid that looks like blood from pores in its cap. Read more: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/spoo... 📷: ngkoons, CC BY-NC

Oct. 23 🍺🐛 Bugs, Bones and Brews Spooky season at First Magnitude Brewing with our Daniels Lab researchers, vertebrate paleontology collection & the UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute team. Hickory Horned Devil Hazy IPA 🍺 with jalapeno peppers Event: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/event/bugs-b...

We're hiring! 👉 Florida Museum Registrar The Registrar oversees the technical and regulatory aspects of collection accessions, permitting, and exchanges. 🔸 Position info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/caree... 🔸 Apply via @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53... 🏛️📌 Apply by Oct 31, 2025

Archaeologists partnered with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to better understand why Pensacola potters, who lived in Mobile Bay and adjacent coastal regions to the east and west around A.D. 1150-1700, used marine shell temper in their pottery. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/temp...

Winter worm summer grass 😨 Spooky natural history Ancient texts refer to a shape-shifting organism that lives out the winter as a worm and transforms into a plant during the summer. The horrifying answer might be in these cicadas: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/spoo...

We're hiring! 👉 NAGPRA Bioarchaeologist and Coordinator This is a this full-time, TEAMS exempt staff position. 🔸 Full position info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/caree... 🔸 Apply via @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53... Please share! 🏛️📌 Apply by Oct 31, 2025

Oct. 23 🍺🐛 Bugs, Bones and Brews Spooky season at First Magnitude Brewing with our Daniels Lab researchers, vertebrate paleontology collection & the UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute team. Hickory Horned Devil Hazy IPA 🍺 with jalapeno peppers Event: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/event/bugs-b...

Spooky natural history 🪤 Gruesome trap Bladderworts may look like regular aquatic plants, but each plant produces hundreds of sophisticated and deadly bladder traps to abduct and digest prey. Read more: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/spoo... 📷: Gilles Ayotte, CC BY-SA