John P. Friel, Ph.D.
@friel.bsky.social
Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History • He/Him • 🐟Zoologist 🦈 • https://linktr.ee/john.friel
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Great news article about the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute's Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection and our recent accessions of specimens from the DEEPEND Consortium and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
There are 8 million fish in a World War II bunker outside New Orleans. More arrive soon.
Hidden in a World War II bunker near New Orleans, Tulane stores more than 8 million preserved fish — and the collection is still growing.
www.nola.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Great news article about the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute's Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection and our recent accessions of specimens from the DEEPEND Consortium and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
AI slop has made it to the deep sea.
That’s not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI Slop
www.southernfriedscience.com/thats-not-a-...
That’s not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI Slop
www.southernfriedscience.com/thats-not-a-...
That’s not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI Slop
Well, it finally happened. Over the last two week, my usually well-curated feeds of videos from the deep sea have been overrun with AI slop masquerading as authentic images of strange and delightfu…
www.southernfriedscience.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:10 PM
AI slop has made it to the deep sea.
That’s not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI Slop
www.southernfriedscience.com/thats-not-a-...
That’s not a blobfish: Deep Sea Social Media is Flooded by AI Slop
www.southernfriedscience.com/thats-not-a-...
Titan Triggerfish are truly the honey badgers of the coral reef.
December 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Titan Triggerfish are truly the honey badgers of the coral reef.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Better late than never! Titus/SymBio Lab is now official on BlueSky.
Our research is focused on understanding how symbiosis generates and maintains marine biodiversity. We integrate systematics, field ecology, and genomics. Get in touch if you’re interested in joining the team!
Our research is focused on understanding how symbiosis generates and maintains marine biodiversity. We integrate systematics, field ecology, and genomics. Get in touch if you’re interested in joining the team!
December 15, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Better late than never! Titus/SymBio Lab is now official on BlueSky.
Our research is focused on understanding how symbiosis generates and maintains marine biodiversity. We integrate systematics, field ecology, and genomics. Get in touch if you’re interested in joining the team!
Our research is focused on understanding how symbiosis generates and maintains marine biodiversity. We integrate systematics, field ecology, and genomics. Get in touch if you’re interested in joining the team!
Bruce Collette is a national treasure!🐟
60 Years of Research on Tunas — and Not Done Yet! Dr. Bruce Collette, Retired Research Associate
YouTube video by Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History
www.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Bruce Collette is a national treasure!🐟
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Eulachon have such a high oil content (15-20% of their entire body weight!) that they burn can like a candle when dried - hence the name “candlefish." Their valuable rendered oil was also historically traded among tribes along the Pacific coast on routes known as grease trails #25DaysofFishmas
December 15, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Eulachon have such a high oil content (15-20% of their entire body weight!) that they burn can like a candle when dried - hence the name “candlefish." Their valuable rendered oil was also historically traded among tribes along the Pacific coast on routes known as grease trails #25DaysofFishmas
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
I appreciate the people going out of their way to create content for the "what not to do" section of my prion disease lecture.
Yum. Prion burger 🦌
(In all seriousness, do not eat deer from CWD positive regions - prion disease is the arguably worst way to die)
Yum. Prion burger 🦌
(In all seriousness, do not eat deer from CWD positive regions - prion disease is the arguably worst way to die)
December 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I appreciate the people going out of their way to create content for the "what not to do" section of my prion disease lecture.
Yum. Prion burger 🦌
(In all seriousness, do not eat deer from CWD positive regions - prion disease is the arguably worst way to die)
Yum. Prion burger 🦌
(In all seriousness, do not eat deer from CWD positive regions - prion disease is the arguably worst way to die)
Bumping to the Fishes! and Science feeds🐟🧪
New paper! Here we look at shape evolution of the mandible in Pelagiaria, a group of open-ocean fishes that includes tuna and mackerel. We find that shape disparity accumulated rapidly at the origin of the clade at around the K/Pg boundary... academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Adaptive radiation of pelagiarian fishes at the K/Pg boundary led to rapid diversification of mandible morphology
Abstract. Mandibles represent a key evolutionary innovation that has enabled jawed vertebrates to adapt and diversify in response to a range of food source
academic.oup.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Bumping to the Fishes! and Science feeds🐟🧪
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Make sure you're on the Gneiss List by visiting the Alabama Museum of Natural History on December 12 for our All Day Holiday Open House! From 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., admission to the Museum will be free all day and we're and giving away bookmarks and festive buttons to take home!
December 8, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Make sure you're on the Gneiss List by visiting the Alabama Museum of Natural History on December 12 for our All Day Holiday Open House! From 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., admission to the Museum will be free all day and we're and giving away bookmarks and festive buttons to take home!
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
100+ y.o. tractor @ Henry Ford with a fishy connection. Edward Phelps Allis Jr., one of the great comparative anatomists of the last century, enjoyed substantial financial support as the son of E. P. Allis Sr., founder of a manufacturing company specialized in industrial and agricultural equipment.
December 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
100+ y.o. tractor @ Henry Ford with a fishy connection. Edward Phelps Allis Jr., one of the great comparative anatomists of the last century, enjoyed substantial financial support as the son of E. P. Allis Sr., founder of a manufacturing company specialized in industrial and agricultural equipment.
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
My students working on our woodpecker project were recently featured in UA's Collegian Magazine! What a nice piece! 🧪
December 5, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My students working on our woodpecker project were recently featured in UA's Collegian Magazine! What a nice piece! 🧪
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Do striped hyenas have a sweet tooth?
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
December 4, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Do striped hyenas have a sweet tooth?
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Wow.... Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize
Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025
www.newscientist.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Wow.... Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
New project documenting A.I. slop graphics in academic journals
neurodojo.blogspot.com/2025/12/new-...
neurodojo.blogspot.com/2025/12/new-...
New project documenting A.I. slop graphics in academic journals
The last month saw a couple of relatively high profile examples of generative A.I. slop appearing in academic journals. From my collection o...
neurodojo.blogspot.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
New project documenting A.I. slop graphics in academic journals
neurodojo.blogspot.com/2025/12/new-...
neurodojo.blogspot.com/2025/12/new-...
Bumping to the Fishes! and Science feeds. 🐟🧪
Forget Snakes on a Plane; how about Ticks on an Eel? cc @greenleejw.bsky.social entomologytoday.org/2025/12/03/t...
Ticks on an Eel: Museum Specimen is a First of its Kind
Two ticks found on an 1873 electric eel specimen mark the first recorded case of ticks parasitizing a fish—but only documented just this year.
entomologytoday.org
December 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Bumping to the Fishes! and Science feeds. 🐟🧪
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Forget Snakes on a Plane; how about Ticks on an Eel? cc @greenleejw.bsky.social entomologytoday.org/2025/12/03/t...
Ticks on an Eel: Museum Specimen is a First of its Kind
Two ticks found on an 1873 electric eel specimen mark the first recorded case of ticks parasitizing a fish—but only documented just this year.
entomologytoday.org
December 3, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Forget Snakes on a Plane; how about Ticks on an Eel? cc @greenleejw.bsky.social entomologytoday.org/2025/12/03/t...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
The CVN lab is officially hosting a ~12h educational livestream next Tuesday!
It'll be like a data-collection LAN (lamb?) party where we will count as many headbutts as possible! Tune in for goats facts and to learn about our research! We are taking topic suggestions 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/live/
It'll be like a data-collection LAN (lamb?) party where we will count as many headbutts as possible! Tune in for goats facts and to learn about our research! We are taking topic suggestions 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/live/
December 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The CVN lab is officially hosting a ~12h educational livestream next Tuesday!
It'll be like a data-collection LAN (lamb?) party where we will count as many headbutts as possible! Tune in for goats facts and to learn about our research! We are taking topic suggestions 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/live/
It'll be like a data-collection LAN (lamb?) party where we will count as many headbutts as possible! Tune in for goats facts and to learn about our research! We are taking topic suggestions 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/live/
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Pathology of stranded blue sharks (Prionace glauca) impaled by swordfish (Xiphias gladius) 🦑🌿🐟🦈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Pathology of stranded blue sharks (Prionace glauca) impaled by swordfish (Xiphias gladius) 🦑🌿🐟🦈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
What’s missing from natural history collections? Maria Dragoi, @ucl.ac.uk Museum Studies alumna and current PhD candidate, discusses her research into our entomology collection and the importance of interpreting collections through a decolonial lens. www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
December 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
What’s missing from natural history collections? Maria Dragoi, @ucl.ac.uk Museum Studies alumna and current PhD candidate, discusses her research into our entomology collection and the importance of interpreting collections through a decolonial lens. www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
December 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
On this day in 1954, a meteorite blew a hole in Ann Hodges' roof, ricocheted off a large Philco radio, and struck her in the side (she survived). It contains fragments of the first things to make up our solar system. See it at the Alabama Museum of Natural History. → bit.ly/3F92ky9
November 30, 2025 at 11:54 PM
On this day in 1954, a meteorite blew a hole in Ann Hodges' roof, ricocheted off a large Philco radio, and struck her in the side (she survived). It contains fragments of the first things to make up our solar system. See it at the Alabama Museum of Natural History. → bit.ly/3F92ky9
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
🐈 What's TikTok good for? Examining which arthropods are hunted by cats.
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Social media highlights the overlooked impact of cats on arthropods
The impact of domestic cats on vertebrate biodiversity is unequivocal; however, we still know little about their effects on arthropods. By analysing over 17,000 photos and videos from social media p...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🐈 What's TikTok good for? Examining which arthropods are hunted by cats.
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
Happy #FossilFriday! This tooth plate is from a giant fossil lungfish called Ceratodus. This specimen is thought to be from the Mesozoic Era and is estimated to be up to 13 feet long! Lungfish have been around for nearly 400 million years, and are one of the closest living relatives to tetrapods!🦎
November 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This tooth plate is from a giant fossil lungfish called Ceratodus. This specimen is thought to be from the Mesozoic Era and is estimated to be up to 13 feet long! Lungfish have been around for nearly 400 million years, and are one of the closest living relatives to tetrapods!🦎
Reposted by John P. Friel, Ph.D.
A new analysis of Dunkleosteus terrelli reveals its massive jaws were far more cartilage-rich than once thought, reshaping ideas about muscle layout, bite mechanics & feeding style. Time to rethink this Devonian apex predator.
Engelman et al.:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Engelman et al.:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
November 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A new analysis of Dunkleosteus terrelli reveals its massive jaws were far more cartilage-rich than once thought, reshaping ideas about muscle layout, bite mechanics & feeding style. Time to rethink this Devonian apex predator.
Engelman et al.:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Engelman et al.:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...