Tom Near
@tjnear.bsky.social
Parent, husband, ichthyologist, professor, Head Saybrook College,
@Yale_EEB chair, FirstGen, Chicagoan, New Havenite. www.nearlab.org/
@Yale_EEB chair, FirstGen, Chicagoan, New Havenite. www.nearlab.org/
Pinned
Tom Near
@tjnear.bsky.social
· Jun 30
Challenges & Solutions in Converting Phylogenies to Taxonomies in Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)
YouTube video by Lead Line Down
www.youtube.com
In this video I discuss the challenges of converting the ray-finned fish phylogeny into a taxonomy. I am quite critical of recent Linnaean rank efforts that create confusion and instability
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66l...
Let me know what you think
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66l...
Let me know what you think
Reposted by Tom Near
Here are just a few of the many fish I painted this year (not to scale). It's fun to stick a bunch of them together into a collage and see some of the incredible diversity of body shape and color patterns. Merry Fishmas!
🐡🐟🐠
🐡🐟🐠
December 16, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Here are just a few of the many fish I painted this year (not to scale). It's fun to stick a bunch of them together into a collage and see some of the incredible diversity of body shape and color patterns. Merry Fishmas!
🐡🐟🐠
🐡🐟🐠
New from #NearLab The role of ecology in allopatric speciation of darters in the Central Highlands, USA
shorturl.at/YEmxH
shorturl.at/YEmxH
December 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
New from #NearLab The role of ecology in allopatric speciation of darters in the Central Highlands, USA
shorturl.at/YEmxH
shorturl.at/YEmxH
Reposted by Tom Near
New paper out now! We show that innovations can have varied effects on a phenotypic evolution, determined by the interaction between external ecological context and internal changes to organismal structure. Read here: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Multifaceted impacts of an innovation on dental diversity in an adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes
Abstract. Evolutionary innovations bring species into new ecological zones by opening ecological opportunity. However, innovations can have varied effects
royalsocietypublishing.org
December 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
New paper out now! We show that innovations can have varied effects on a phenotypic evolution, determined by the interaction between external ecological context and internal changes to organismal structure. Read here: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Reposted by Tom Near
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 10:28 AM
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...
Reposted by Tom Near
Congratulations to UMMP Associate Research Scientist Miriam Zelditch on the release of the third edition of the indispensable "Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists" (a.k.a. the green book)! #FossilFriday
December 6, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Congratulations to UMMP Associate Research Scientist Miriam Zelditch on the release of the third edition of the indispensable "Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists" (a.k.a. the green book)! #FossilFriday
Reposted by Tom Near
Wonderful new review of The Tree of Life in Science by Yan Wong.
"This mix of the uncertainty of research, the excitement of new discovery, and the importance of solving “science’s greatest puzzle” is what makes the book such a delight"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"This mix of the uncertainty of research, the excitement of new discovery, and the importance of solving “science’s greatest puzzle” is what makes the book such a delight"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Painting the phylogeny of life
An evolutionary biologist invites readers to travel back in time to meet humanity’s distant ancestors
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Wonderful new review of The Tree of Life in Science by Yan Wong.
"This mix of the uncertainty of research, the excitement of new discovery, and the importance of solving “science’s greatest puzzle” is what makes the book such a delight"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"This mix of the uncertainty of research, the excitement of new discovery, and the importance of solving “science’s greatest puzzle” is what makes the book such a delight"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
😍
December 1, 2025 at 10:51 PM
😍
Reposted by Tom Near
“Are you wearing flip-flops on a plane?”
November 29, 2025 at 12:38 PM
“Are you wearing flip-flops on a plane?”
Reposted by Tom Near
Another nice Oreosomatidae on the way back to the surface. They're hoping for 2 more dives before the expedition ends. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 875 #asgardarchaea #MarineLife
November 29, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Another nice Oreosomatidae on the way back to the surface. They're hoping for 2 more dives before the expedition ends. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 875 #asgardarchaea #MarineLife
Reposted by Tom Near
Reposted by Tom Near
A phylogenetic analysis of Tui Chubs (Siphateles spp.) from the Great Basin, focusing on refining their taxonomic classification: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#fishes #phylogenetics #ichthyology
#fishes #phylogenetics #ichthyology
November 24, 2025 at 12:09 PM
A phylogenetic analysis of Tui Chubs (Siphateles spp.) from the Great Basin, focusing on refining their taxonomic classification: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
#fishes #phylogenetics #ichthyology
#fishes #phylogenetics #ichthyology
Reposted by Tom Near
Saving the C-Gar!
“Cuban scientists race against time to save fish as old as the dinosaurs”
LINK: www.reuters.com/business/env...
“Cuban scientists race against time to save fish as old as the dinosaurs”
LINK: www.reuters.com/business/env...
November 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Saving the C-Gar!
“Cuban scientists race against time to save fish as old as the dinosaurs”
LINK: www.reuters.com/business/env...
“Cuban scientists race against time to save fish as old as the dinosaurs”
LINK: www.reuters.com/business/env...
Reposted by Tom Near
I'm recruiting a new master's student for fall 2026 in my lab at Northern Michigan University @bionmu.bsky.social ! Students with interests in evolution of freshwater fish are encouraged to apply. Please see our lab website lizmandeville.github.io and the attached advertisement for more information.
Mandeville Lab
Fish are so delightfully weird. We study the evolutionary genetics and ecology of freshwater fishes, plus a few more things, at Northern Michigan University
lizmandeville.github.io
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I'm recruiting a new master's student for fall 2026 in my lab at Northern Michigan University @bionmu.bsky.social ! Students with interests in evolution of freshwater fish are encouraged to apply. Please see our lab website lizmandeville.github.io and the attached advertisement for more information.
A wonderful Saybrook College Tea with Yale World Fellow and Saybrook Fellow, Trinh Nguyen
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11...
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11...
November 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
A wonderful Saybrook College Tea with Yale World Fellow and Saybrook Fellow, Trinh Nguyen
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11...
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11...
More news about the Birmingham Darter and the Project Marvel mega data center
abc3340.com/news/local/w...
abc3340.com/news/local/w...
'We have to act fast': Petition filed to protect rare fish from proposed data center
The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to secure Endangered Species Act protection for the Birmingham
abc3340.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:19 AM
More news about the Birmingham Darter and the Project Marvel mega data center
abc3340.com/news/local/w...
abc3340.com/news/local/w...
Bridle Shiner, Notropis bifrenatus. Plymouth Co., Massachusetts
November 18, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Bridle Shiner, Notropis bifrenatus. Plymouth Co., Massachusetts
Reposted by Tom Near
Diverging fish biodiversity trends in cold and warm rivers and streams. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Diverging fish biodiversity trends in cold and warm rivers and streams - Nature
In the past three decades, fish abundance, richness and uniqueness have diverged across cold and warm streams, and the effects on native fish communities of stream warming and increases in introduced ...
doi.org
November 16, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Diverging fish biodiversity trends in cold and warm rivers and streams. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Tom Near
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI | The New Journal
Amid ChatGPT's rising popularity and a computer science cheating scandal, Yale students, professors, and administrators wrestle privately with the proper role of AI in education. What happens when eve...
thenewjournalatyale.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
The story of the Birmingham Darter and the mega data center covered by Lee Hedgepeth and Dennis Pillion that reports on our latest field work in October 2025
insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
A Proposed Alabama Data Center Faces New Hurdles: A ‘Road to Nowhere’ and the Birmingham Darter - Inside Climate News
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacl...
insideclimatenews.org
November 16, 2025 at 2:32 AM
The story of the Birmingham Darter and the mega data center covered by Lee Hedgepeth and Dennis Pillion that reports on our latest field work in October 2025
insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...
1/2 #NearLab @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social described Birmingham Darter Etheostoma birminghamesnse in April 2025 It is under threat from a mega data center. A petition was filed yesterday by the @biologicaldiversity.org to review the species for protection under the ESA
www.wbrc.com/2025/11/14/n...
www.wbrc.com/2025/11/14/n...
National conservation group joining fight against proposed data center
A national conservation group is joining their fight, saying the center will have a major impact on a fish population found only in this area of Alabama.
www.wbrc.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
1/2 #NearLab @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social described Birmingham Darter Etheostoma birminghamesnse in April 2025 It is under threat from a mega data center. A petition was filed yesterday by the @biologicaldiversity.org to review the species for protection under the ESA
www.wbrc.com/2025/11/14/n...
www.wbrc.com/2025/11/14/n...
Reposted by Tom Near
Dias et al. used genetic data from 27 Drosophilidae species and 6 outgroups to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fruit flies, recovering Drosophilidae as nonmonophyletic, underscoring the need for taxonomic revision.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf269
#evobio #molbio #drosophila
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf269
#evobio #molbio #drosophila
November 14, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Dias et al. used genetic data from 27 Drosophilidae species and 6 outgroups to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fruit flies, recovering Drosophilidae as nonmonophyletic, underscoring the need for taxonomic revision.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf269
#evobio #molbio #drosophila
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf269
#evobio #molbio #drosophila
Reposted by Tom Near
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
What he said ⬇️ 🎯
This is horrific. The use of genetics (polygenic risk scores) to associate this monster with any of his traits is *exactly* what they used to justify their eugenics program. Our fate is not in our genes. He was the combination of many things, not many mutations. I literally cannot, WTAF...
Right. Hitler's DNA. Brace yourselves for a deluge of misinformation and bad science.
I'm in Australia, so do get in touch if you want some expert debunking.
I'm in Australia, so do get in touch if you want some expert debunking.
November 13, 2025 at 3:46 PM
What he said ⬇️ 🎯