Mark Westneat 🐟
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mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟
@mwestneat.bsky.social
2.1K followers 600 following 180 posts

Biologist at UChicago interested in biomechanics, phylogenetics and evolution, structure and function, marine biodiversity and conservation, fishes of coral reefs and freshwaters

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Environmental science 51%
Geography 14%
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Reposted by John R. Hutchinson

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · 3d
The new computational model for jaw mechanics in piranhas is called PiranhaLever, available for download on my GitHub github.com/mwestneat/Pi.... Along with various other models for biomechanics and morphometrics. All Mac apps, install the dmg and skirt your security demon 😎
GitHub - mwestneat/PiranhaLever: Mac app for jaw biomechanics of piranhas
Mac app for jaw biomechanics of piranhas. Contribute to mwestneat/PiranhaLever development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · 3d
Piranha bite force and tooth stress are fantastically high for their size! Check out our new paper on computational modeling of the cranial muscles and bite mechanics of the amazing piranhas. #biomechsky 🐟πŸ§ͺ🌿

link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...
Biomechanics, muscle modeling, and the elevated bite force and tooth stress of piranhas
link.springer.com

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

friedmanlab.bsky.social
Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social Β· 3d
Remarkable. Report of a Brazilian spiny-rayed fish dating to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous, preceding the oldest known acanthomorphs by ~20 million years. Gondwanacanthus extends the roots of one of today's most prominent vertebrate radiations: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Four incomplete fossil fish specimens on a black background. The specimens preserve scales, vertebrae, spines, and so on, and are dark gray on lighter gray to mustard-colored slabs.

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · 8d
Neil will be an excellent NAS President to meet today’s challenges and develop a vision for the future. He is supportive at multiple levels of science and administration, from students to faculty, has an instinct for fostering awesome research, and will engage in the fight to keep US Science great.

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

nasonline.org
National Academy of Sciences @nasonline.org Β· 9d
Neil H. Shubin has been elected as the next NAS President! A leading evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin will succeed Marcia McNutt on July 1. The Academy also named Cherry Murray as International Secretary and elected new councilors. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/2026_pr...

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · 10d
Good idea! Gotta say Dave Jablonski, Sue Kidwell, and Neil Shubin here in Chicago, plus others! And hi to Cathy and Jim. All super kind and supportive- maybe wholesome too πŸ˜ƒ

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · 25d
Proud graduate of this awesome course in 2000- Highly recommend!
jembrown.bsky.social Jeremy M. Brown @jembrown.bsky.social Β· 28d
Applications are now open for the 2026 Workshop on Molecular Evolution (MOLE)!

www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:

lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684

Deadline to apply: 1/26
Workshop on Molecular Evolution | Marine Biological Laboratory
The workshop serves graduate students, postdocs, and established faculty from around the world seeking to apply the principles of molecular evolution to questions of anthropology, conservation genetic...
www.mbl.edu

Reposted by George A. O’Toole, Mark W. Westneat, Orlando Schwery

jembrown.bsky.social
Jeremy M. Brown @jembrown.bsky.social Β· 28d
Applications are now open for the 2026 Workshop on Molecular Evolution (MOLE)!

www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:

lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684

Deadline to apply: 1/26
Workshop on Molecular Evolution | Marine Biological Laboratory
The workshop serves graduate students, postdocs, and established faculty from around the world seeking to apply the principles of molecular evolution to questions of anthropology, conservation genetic...
www.mbl.edu

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Dec 22
New @jexpbiol.bsky.social paper alert! The grips of hawks and owls on their often struggling prey are strong! Check out our new paper led by Alex Clark and with @linnealungstrom.bsky.social. Alex with the cover photo πŸ§ͺπŸŒΏπŸ¦‰
#Biomechanics #AerialFishes

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
Biomechanics of raptorial dorsiflexion and tensile material properties of the m. tibialis cranialis tendon in the hindlimbs of hawks and owls
Summary: Skeletal morphology and tendon tensile properties of raptorial bird hindlimbs yield insight into prey capture capabilities, with surprisingly elastic tendon modulus values compared with mamma...
journals.biologists.com

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat, FabiΓ‘n Muniesa, Anders Nilsson , and 4 more

merriam-webster.com
Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com Β· Nov 19
Autocorrect has become our worst enema.

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Nov 19
We are doing a food drive across multiple Departments and programs at UChicago. Our box in Culver Hall for Organismal Biology and Anatomy is now greatly overflowing πŸ€™ To the food pantries soon!
A box of food donations for local food pantries in south Chicago

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Mark W. Westneat, Trevor A. Branch , and 1 more

ljrissler.bsky.social
Leslie Rissler @ljrissler.bsky.social Β· Nov 13
NSF is open again!

A few comments:

*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.

*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.

*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Oct 31
Happy Halloween! We are THE haunted Harper Ave block in Hyde Park, and will serve candy to thousands of South Side Chicago kids tonight! I have a bunch of cool skulls out in the yard but the baseball graveyard is the most popular. πŸ˜†
Halloween graveyard with Cubs playoff hopes and White Sox whole season deeply grieved.

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Oct 17
Seems like the L flag was bad luck. Brewers are now 0-3 after using it to celebrate their opponents loss. Oops.

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

sicbjournals.bsky.social
SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social Β· Oct 15
ICB
From the Evan's lab!
Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational #Modularity in the Lunar #Wrasse Skull
by
Hugi,& @sternarchella.bsky.social et al

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Evans lab
koryevans.weebly.com/people.html
Fig. 3 Modularity hypotheses for cranial bones of Thalassoma lunare. Each color represents a different module. The operculum represents the preopercular/opercular series. See Table 1 for a description of the functional and developmental patterns that underly each hypothesis.

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

linnealungstrom.bsky.social
Linnea Lungstrom @linnealungstrom.bsky.social Β· Oct 12
Our killer team of @mfarjo.bsky.social, Ryan Isdonas, Andrew George, and @mwestneat.bsky.social found:
🐠head/body shapes are related to diet
🐠fishes have pairs of high/low aspect ratio propulsive fins (caudal/pectoral)
🐠caudal fins have the highest evolutionary rates & covary with body/pectoral fins

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Oct 12
So excited to see our paper on #phylogenetics and #morphometrics integrated with feeding #ecology in the surgeonfishes by @linnealungstrom.bsky.social get posted, her first in a series on their incredibly cool biology. πŸŸπŸ¦‘πŸ§ͺ🌎🌿
linnealungstrom.bsky.social Linnea Lungstrom @linnealungstrom.bsky.social Β· Oct 11
No better reason to join Bluesky then to say the first chapter of my PhD is out as a preprint! New surgeonfish phylogeny, ecomorphological relationships, evolutionary shape correlations-with NEW method to accurately account for phylogenetic covariation among shapes!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes
Patterns of evolutionary change in the fin and body shapes of fishes are strongly related to dietary ecology and locomotor mechanisms, and associations between shapes affects ecomorphological relation...
www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

linnealungstrom.bsky.social
Linnea Lungstrom @linnealungstrom.bsky.social Β· Oct 11
No better reason to join Bluesky then to say the first chapter of my PhD is out as a preprint! New surgeonfish phylogeny, ecomorphological relationships, evolutionary shape correlations-with NEW method to accurately account for phylogenetic covariation among shapes!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes
Patterns of evolutionary change in the fin and body shapes of fishes are strongly related to dietary ecology and locomotor mechanisms, and associations between shapes affects ecomorphological relation...
www.biorxiv.org

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Oct 7
Seems worth noting this award in light of the present circumstances. Get the troops out of our fair city please, perhaps after they enjoy a great Malnati’s pizza!
Headline photo of Chicago skyline with note about award for being the best big city.

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

danielbolnick.bsky.social
Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social Β· Sep 27
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...
β€˜Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org

Reposted by Kelly R. Zamudio, Mark W. Westneat, John R. Hutchinson

jessicalwarelab.bsky.social
Dr. Jessica L Ware @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social Β· Sep 26
Join us! We are hiring a new #curator at the #AMNH in #Vertebrate #Zoology careers.amnh.org/postings/4600 #academicjobs #tenuretrack
Assistant Curator, Vertebrate Zoology
The Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) seeks an Assistant Curator in either the Department of Ornithology, Ichthyology, or Mammalogy to start on or after J...
careers.amnh.org

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat, Vincent Raoult

whysharksmatter.bsky.social
David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Sep 11
Drone observations reveal white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fins are highly flexible and possible investigatory structures

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

πŸ§ͺπŸŒŽπŸ¦‘πŸ¦ˆπŸ 
Drone observations reveal white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fins are highly flexible and possible investigatory structures
Drones are becoming increasingly useful in their ability to observe wildlife. They have been especially useful in documenting marine animals such as sharks. Here we present novel aerial drone observa....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Julie L. Lockwood, Mark W. Westneat, Jesse M. Alston

meganbarkdull.bsky.social
Megan Barkdull @meganbarkdull.bsky.social Β· Sep 8
While full solicitation isn’t up, looks like we have 2025 proposal deadlines for the GRFP: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat

mwestneat.bsky.social
Mark Westneat 🐟 @mwestneat.bsky.social · Sep 3
It’s a start, congrats to our Harvard colleagues!

www.cnn.com/2025/09/03/p...
Harvard wins an important case

Reposted by Mark W. Westneat, Rosemary A. Joyce, C. Kirabo Jackson , and 2 more

govpritzker.illinois.gov
Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov Β· Sep 2
I'm aware that the President likes to go on television and beg me to call him to ask for troops.

I find it strange, as Chicago doesn't want troops.

I also have experience asking him for assistance – just to have the rug pulled up from underneath me when execution meets reality.