John P. Friel, Ph.D.
@friel.bsky.social
Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History • He/Him • 🐟Zoologist 🦈 • https://linktr.ee/john.friel
#Museums had a rough 2025: New AAM Report shows lower attendance, lost grants, and less money. 🙁
Museums had a rough 2025: Report shows lower attendance, lost grants, less money
The American Alliance of Museums put out its annual industry snapshot and it's not great. Trump's targeting of museum programming had downstream effects and put a "chill on corporate philanthropy."
www.npr.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:11 PM
#Museums had a rough 2025: New AAM Report shows lower attendance, lost grants, and less money. 🙁
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
For anyone who can live in Flordia, a great opportunity in an amazing collection:
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
University of Florida - Details - FLMNH Collections Manager II / FLMNH Collections Manager III
explore.jobs.ufl.edu
November 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
For anyone who can live in Flordia, a great opportunity in an amazing collection:
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
My lab is performing a TBI biomarker study and needs local participants! Recruiting female athletes or non athletes between 18-35, bonus if you suspect you've had a concussion before. Get in touch! 🧠
November 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
My lab is performing a TBI biomarker study and needs local participants! Recruiting female athletes or non athletes between 18-35, bonus if you suspect you've had a concussion before. Get in touch! 🧠
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
The Fudge Lab at Chapman University is recruiting a postdoc for an NSF-funded project on the biophysics of hagfish defensive slime deployment. Please repost!
Apply here: tinyurl.com/4p937dn5
Apply here: tinyurl.com/4p937dn5
November 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The Fudge Lab at Chapman University is recruiting a postdoc for an NSF-funded project on the biophysics of hagfish defensive slime deployment. Please repost!
Apply here: tinyurl.com/4p937dn5
Apply here: tinyurl.com/4p937dn5
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Your lab isn't a home until you've hung up your prized Tiktaalik. My Live, Laugh, Love wall decals gotta be in a box somewhere.
November 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Your lab isn't a home until you've hung up your prized Tiktaalik. My Live, Laugh, Love wall decals gotta be in a box somewhere.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Fossil shark teeth from Pliocene Tuscany show the first evidence that 𝑂𝑠𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑥 "zombie worms" exploit shark tooth dentine in the wild.
🔗 doi.org/10.3897/fr.2...
🔗 doi.org/10.3897/fr.2...
November 7, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Fossil shark teeth from Pliocene Tuscany show the first evidence that 𝑂𝑠𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑥 "zombie worms" exploit shark tooth dentine in the wild.
🔗 doi.org/10.3897/fr.2...
🔗 doi.org/10.3897/fr.2...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Forget the 4k vs 8k debate, researchers created an e-ink screen that is the same resolution as your eye. One pixel per photoreceptor! Now that's h-eye resolution! 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
H-eye Resolution!
Eye-pixels! They’re pixels for your eyes! Allow me to explain In a recent article in the journal Nature, researchers developed a new technology with the smallest pixels ever, in a screen that has t…
nicoleackermans.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Forget the 4k vs 8k debate, researchers created an e-ink screen that is the same resolution as your eye. One pixel per photoreceptor! Now that's h-eye resolution! 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
🐀 vs. 🦇 👀
Behavioral #plasticity: First documentation of systematic predation on #bats by #rats.
Gloza-Rausch et al 2025 Global Ecology and Conservation. Active predation by brown #rats on #bats at urban mass hibernacula in Northern #Germany: Conservation and one health implications
doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
Gloza-Rausch et al 2025 Global Ecology and Conservation. Active predation by brown #rats on #bats at urban mass hibernacula in Northern #Germany: Conservation and one health implications
doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
November 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
🐀 vs. 🦇 👀
November 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Why do eagle and manta rays have long, whip-like tails? 🦈 Our study shows that they act like kite tails, adding drag to keep rays stable as they glide!
Thanks to @georgelauder.bsky.social, Connor White, Harvard MCZ, @nhm-london.bsky.social , CSIRO & @tamu.bsky.social Article: shorturl.at/gSf7P
Thanks to @georgelauder.bsky.social, Connor White, Harvard MCZ, @nhm-london.bsky.social , CSIRO & @tamu.bsky.social Article: shorturl.at/gSf7P
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Why do eagle and manta rays have long, whip-like tails? 🦈 Our study shows that they act like kite tails, adding drag to keep rays stable as they glide!
Thanks to @georgelauder.bsky.social, Connor White, Harvard MCZ, @nhm-london.bsky.social , CSIRO & @tamu.bsky.social Article: shorturl.at/gSf7P
Thanks to @georgelauder.bsky.social, Connor White, Harvard MCZ, @nhm-london.bsky.social , CSIRO & @tamu.bsky.social Article: shorturl.at/gSf7P
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
(Recent art) Ceratodus nargan Illustration!
Ceratodus is a wide spread prehistoric lungfish species that is related to the extant queensland lungfish. Here lies a species in the Early Cretaceous of Southern Victoria, Australia, in the Euremella formation.
#paleoart #sciart #illustraation #fishart
Ceratodus is a wide spread prehistoric lungfish species that is related to the extant queensland lungfish. Here lies a species in the Early Cretaceous of Southern Victoria, Australia, in the Euremella formation.
#paleoart #sciart #illustraation #fishart
November 5, 2025 at 7:32 AM
(Recent art) Ceratodus nargan Illustration!
Ceratodus is a wide spread prehistoric lungfish species that is related to the extant queensland lungfish. Here lies a species in the Early Cretaceous of Southern Victoria, Australia, in the Euremella formation.
#paleoart #sciart #illustraation #fishart
Ceratodus is a wide spread prehistoric lungfish species that is related to the extant queensland lungfish. Here lies a species in the Early Cretaceous of Southern Victoria, Australia, in the Euremella formation.
#paleoart #sciart #illustraation #fishart
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
New paper in JSP: Gonçalves & Luccisano reassess the taxonomy and phylogeny of Aeduellidae, Carboniferous ray-finned fish from Decazeville Basin, France 🐟
Results hint at a North American origin… or convergent traits that muddy the family waters.
Read the study: buff.ly/huDEsiU #paleosky #fossilfish
Results hint at a North American origin… or convergent traits that muddy the family waters.
Read the study: buff.ly/huDEsiU #paleosky #fossilfish
November 3, 2025 at 10:53 AM
New paper in JSP: Gonçalves & Luccisano reassess the taxonomy and phylogeny of Aeduellidae, Carboniferous ray-finned fish from Decazeville Basin, France 🐟
Results hint at a North American origin… or convergent traits that muddy the family waters.
Read the study: buff.ly/huDEsiU #paleosky #fossilfish
Results hint at a North American origin… or convergent traits that muddy the family waters.
Read the study: buff.ly/huDEsiU #paleosky #fossilfish
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Still looking for a person to do a PhD in my lab at University of Québec in Chicoutimi (UQAC), starting between now and mai 2026. Feel free to contact me to inquire on the project and the condition of admission. A really neat project on influence of thermal barriers on brook trout genetic.
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Still looking for a person to do a PhD in my lab at University of Québec in Chicoutimi (UQAC), starting between now and mai 2026. Feel free to contact me to inquire on the project and the condition of admission. A really neat project on influence of thermal barriers on brook trout genetic.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
First-Ever Footage Shows Killer Whales Attacking Great White Shark Nursery
First-Ever Footage Shows Killer Whales Attacking Great White Shark Nursery
An orca pod has been spotted for the first time repeatedly targeting and flipping young great white sharks onto their backs to paralyze and dismember them
www.scientificamerican.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:13 PM
First-Ever Footage Shows Killer Whales Attacking Great White Shark Nursery
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
I have RETURNED to the city of Philadelphia, which means I am about to start shipping orders again.
Advent begins in 4 weeks! Do you have a calendar picked out yet??
Make this a December to remember with EELS!
Every day, learn something about eels. You won't regret it!
Eelfacts.net
Advent begins in 4 weeks! Do you have a calendar picked out yet??
Make this a December to remember with EELS!
Every day, learn something about eels. You won't regret it!
Eelfacts.net
November 3, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I have RETURNED to the city of Philadelphia, which means I am about to start shipping orders again.
Advent begins in 4 weeks! Do you have a calendar picked out yet??
Make this a December to remember with EELS!
Every day, learn something about eels. You won't regret it!
Eelfacts.net
Advent begins in 4 weeks! Do you have a calendar picked out yet??
Make this a December to remember with EELS!
Every day, learn something about eels. You won't regret it!
Eelfacts.net
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Grab your snorkels and dive back in time with us - our new temporary #exhibition Feeding Without Jaws opens on Weds 12 Nov. The exhibition explores cutting-edge palaeontological research on the lives of unusual ancient fishes.
For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi...
#LapworthRocks
For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi...
#LapworthRocks
November 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Grab your snorkels and dive back in time with us - our new temporary #exhibition Feeding Without Jaws opens on Weds 12 Nov. The exhibition explores cutting-edge palaeontological research on the lives of unusual ancient fishes.
For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi...
#LapworthRocks
For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi...
#LapworthRocks
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
GAR WEEK 2025 is HERE!!!
Join @garlab.bsky.social as we celebrate these awesome living fossil fishes and freshwater biodiversity for #GarWeek!
We look forward to hearing from YOU with any gar pics, puns, stories, GARtwork and questions this week!
Join @garlab.bsky.social as we celebrate these awesome living fossil fishes and freshwater biodiversity for #GarWeek!
We look forward to hearing from YOU with any gar pics, puns, stories, GARtwork and questions this week!
November 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
GAR WEEK 2025 is HERE!!!
Join @garlab.bsky.social as we celebrate these awesome living fossil fishes and freshwater biodiversity for #GarWeek!
We look forward to hearing from YOU with any gar pics, puns, stories, GARtwork and questions this week!
Join @garlab.bsky.social as we celebrate these awesome living fossil fishes and freshwater biodiversity for #GarWeek!
We look forward to hearing from YOU with any gar pics, puns, stories, GARtwork and questions this week!
Sir, I spy two #lampreys in your suitcase of eels.🧐
Eel-egal trade: the world’s most lucrative wildlife crime?
https://www.europesays.com/2541386/
Eels have been a staple of European diets for millennia, from London’s jellied eels to Spanish angulas. But…
https://www.europesays.com/2541386/
Eels have been a staple of European diets for millennia, from London’s jellied eels to Spanish angulas. But…
Eel-egal trade: the world’s most lucrative wildlife crime? - EUROPE SAYS
Eels have been a staple of European diets for millennia, from London’s jellied eels to Spanish angulas. But the world’s appetite is bringing them to the brink
www.europesays.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Sir, I spy two #lampreys in your suitcase of eels.🧐
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
I’ll be posting a Fishmas video (hopefully) every single day u til Christmas Day! Follow along with me! If you’ve got a fish you’d like to hear about, let me know and I’ll try my best to include it :)
November 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I’ll be posting a Fishmas video (hopefully) every single day u til Christmas Day! Follow along with me! If you’ve got a fish you’d like to hear about, let me know and I’ll try my best to include it :)
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Nobody makes good fossil fish masks so this year I knocked out a Protosphyraena for myself!
A little cardboard and superglue goes a long way when paired with obsession
A little cardboard and superglue goes a long way when paired with obsession
October 31, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Nobody makes good fossil fish masks so this year I knocked out a Protosphyraena for myself!
A little cardboard and superglue goes a long way when paired with obsession
A little cardboard and superglue goes a long way when paired with obsession
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Ladies, does your man hang out in the deep sea, have a cartilaginous skeleton, and teeth on his forehead? That's not your man, that is a chimera. 👻🦈
In honour of Halloween weekend, Nathan Lujan @potamophile.bsky.social Curator of Fishes at ROM) gave us a lesson on these creepy creatures.
In honour of Halloween weekend, Nathan Lujan @potamophile.bsky.social Curator of Fishes at ROM) gave us a lesson on these creepy creatures.
October 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Ladies, does your man hang out in the deep sea, have a cartilaginous skeleton, and teeth on his forehead? That's not your man, that is a chimera. 👻🦈
In honour of Halloween weekend, Nathan Lujan @potamophile.bsky.social Curator of Fishes at ROM) gave us a lesson on these creepy creatures.
In honour of Halloween weekend, Nathan Lujan @potamophile.bsky.social Curator of Fishes at ROM) gave us a lesson on these creepy creatures.
Sharing this cool animation of #Aquilolamna, a fossil shark from the Late Cretaceous Agua Nueva Formation of Mexico. This species was cosplaying as a manta ray long before the first manta rays appeared in the fossil record. #FossilFriday
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfdd...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfdd...
Aquilolamna - Eagle Shark [ 3D animation ]
YouTube video by Kiabugboy
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Sharing this cool animation of #Aquilolamna, a fossil shark from the Late Cretaceous Agua Nueva Formation of Mexico. This species was cosplaying as a manta ray long before the first manta rays appeared in the fossil record. #FossilFriday
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfdd...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfdd...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
#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...
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...
October 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
#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...
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...