John P. Friel, Ph.D.
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friel.bsky.social
John P. Friel, Ph.D.
@friel.bsky.social
19K followers 1.5K following 950 posts
Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History • He/Him • 🐟Zoologist 🦈 • https://linktr.ee/john.friel
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friel.bsky.social
Ever wonder what a luchador might wear for #GarWeek?
Now you know.

www.ebay.com/itm/35540069...
A white luchador mask with the letters "G", "A" and "R" sewn on to it for sale on Ebay.
November 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
friel.bsky.social
Fellow fish nerds, I'm sharing a link to a free PDF of "The Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia". This new book provides a summary of the taxonomy, distribution, and biology of all freshwater fishes between the Bosphorus, Azerbaijan, Yemen, and Iran. 🐟

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Cover and sample pages of a new book entitled "Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia" by Jörg Freyhof , Baran Yoğurtçuoğlu , Arash Jouladeh-Roudbar and Cüneyt Kaya.
October 31, 2025 at 5:53 PM
friel.bsky.social
Oh that's the posterior clavicle element (clvb in the figure below). I had to check Grande & Bemis 1998 for confirmation.😀
Amia calva, pectoral fin and girdle with cartilage dissolved and bones disarticulated by soaking in a 1:1 solution of chlorine bleach and water. Anterior facing left; lateral view of most bones, ventral view of posttemporal and extrascapular.
October 31, 2025 at 1:23 PM
friel.bsky.social
Might as well enjoy this infographic as the paleo world waits for Nature to update its website...
The differences between the dinosaur species Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus rex, which likely lived in the same ecosystem during the late Cretaceous period. (Image credit: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences)
October 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
friel.bsky.social
New species of #coelacanth from the Early Triassic of China just dropped. Say hello to Whiteia anniae.🐟🧪 #FossilFriday

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Whiteia anniae sp. nov. in right lateral view, Holotype (CHU 2016). (a), Whole specimen. (b), closeup of the calcified lung (indicated by lower arrows) and lateral line (indicated by upper arrows). (c), a scale near the head. (d), anterior tips of jaws with arrows indicating the fangs in anterior coronoids. (e), denticles on the last ray of the anterior dorsal fin.
October 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
friel.bsky.social
Wake up, babe, a new species of Redhorse just dropped. Meet the Apalachicola Redhorse (Moxostoma antelunare), which is found throughout the Apalachicola River Drainage as well as Enconfina Creek in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. 🐟🧪

www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
Live picture of Moxoostoma antelunare, Apalachicola Redhorse by David Werneke. The distribution of Moxoostoma antelunare, Apalachicola Redhorse.
October 17, 2025 at 3:46 PM
friel.bsky.social
“I was married, but I’m not married anymore. Women don’t like the vehicle.”
Close-up of the graphic on a t-shirt of a hotrod car that belonged to John Friel,
October 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
friel.bsky.social
A new study of 65-million-year-old crab and shrimp #fossils from central Alabama has identified new species and genera. One of the newly named crabs is dedicated to Coach Nick Saban, honoring his achievements for The #UniversityOfAlabama and the state. #RollTide

almnh.museums.ua.edu/meteorite-su...
Carapace of the new, ~65-million-year-old crab Costacopluma nicksabani with a 2 mm scale bar. Photo: Dr. Adiel Klompmaker
October 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
friel.bsky.social
Lefteye Flounders get a facelift.

Integrated Molecular and Morphological Analyses Resolve Long-Standing Classification Challenges in the Sinistral Flatfish Family Bothidae (Teleostei: Carangiformes). 🐟🧪

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Composite photographs showing examples of representative fishes from four families of Lefteye Flounders.
September 30, 2025 at 2:27 PM
friel.bsky.social
Two new species of African suckermouth catfishes just dropped! Say hello to #Chiloglanis kinsuka from the lower #Congo River at the Kinsuka rapids below Pool Malebo, and #Chiloglanis wagenia, from the Wagenia Falls at Kisangani, more than 1600 km upstream.🐟🧪

digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/3ad0dd...
Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of Chiloglanis kinsuka, new species, holotype, AMNH 283315, 69.7 mm SL, female, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, Kinsuka Rapids. Photo by T.R. Vigliotta. Scale bar equals 0.5 cm. Inset photo, lower right: coloration in life, AMNH 268960. Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of Chiloglanis wagenia, new species, holotype, CUMV 95972, 45.4 mm SL, male, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Orientale, Lualaba River at main portion of Wagenia Falls. Photo by T.R. Vigliotta. Scale bar equals 0.5 cm.
September 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
friel.bsky.social
This morning, my wife spotted this juvenile Timber Rattlesnake beneath one of our backyard bird feeders. Fortunately, I was able to safely relocate it before our dogs discovered it. The second photo shows just how well the snake was camouflaged. 🌿
www.inaturalist.org/observations...
A photograph of a juvenile Timber Rattle snake coiled up on the ground with some grass and an oak leaf in the background. A photograph of a platform bird feeder hanging from a black metal shepherd's hook. Below the feeder are the discarded shells of sunflower seeds and oak leaves, along with a well camouflaged juvenile Timber Rattlesnake.
September 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
friel.bsky.social
I’m John, and I’m the Director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa, AL. I'm an ichthyologist and enjoy all things fishy and paleo-related.🐟🦖🏛️
Photo John Friel fossil hunting in the creek. He is kneeling and holding a small fossil in his hands. An aerial photo of Smith Hall on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, AL, home of the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
August 20, 2025 at 1:36 PM
friel.bsky.social
Tobit L.D. Liyandja, Brian T. Smith, S. Elizabeth Alter, Brian L. Sidlauskas, Melanie L.J. Stiassny. 2025. Phylogenomics of African Labeo (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) emphasizing central African species, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 108427.🐟🧪

www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S105...
Live photographs of representative specimens of African Labeo species from the Congo and Lower Guinea ichthyofaunal provinces. a) Labeo nasus, b) Labeo falcipinnis, c) Labeo greenii, d) Labeo parvus, e) Labeo weeksii, f) Labeo mbimbii, g) Labeo sp. 18, f) Labeo lukulae. Photos d, e, and g were taken in a photarium (photo tank) and the remaining photos were taken in plain air.
August 10, 2025 at 9:56 PM
friel.bsky.social
Wake up, babe, a new fossil fish faceplant just dropped. 🐟🧪
An illustration from a publication showing a comparison of the 3D reconstruction of the snout of a fossil dipnoan fish and the trace fossil made by the snout of this fish.
August 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
friel.bsky.social
V. dapper from the Silurian, please say hello to V. derpy from the Ordovician.
3D printed model of Sacabambaspis janvieri
July 31, 2025 at 8:35 PM
friel.bsky.social
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠, a new species of eyeless cavefish is described from Guizhou Province, China. 🐟🧪

mdpi.com/2076-2615/15...
Sinocyclocheilus wanlanensis sp. nov., GXU2020000062, holotype, 86.74 mm SL. (A) Live specimen (not holotype); (B) lateral view of head in preserved specimen; (C) dorsal view of preserved specimen.
July 29, 2025 at 6:25 PM
friel.bsky.social
Denticeps clupeoides is truly a unique fish and the last surviving member of a very ancient lineage of clupeiforms that diverged from the clupeoids during the Mesozoic era. Below is an example of one with life colors that I and others collected in Benin years ago.
Freshly-preserved specimen of Denticeps clupeoides (SAIAB 748770 from Benin), 42.1 mm S.L. Photo by R. Bills.
July 20, 2025 at 10:05 AM
friel.bsky.social
I prefer Ray Troll's twist on this iconic poster featuring the Paleozoic Buzz Saw Shark, #Helicoprion.
A parody of the Jaws movie poster created by the artist Ray Troll, which features the Paleozoic Buzz Saw Shark, Helicoprion.
July 14, 2025 at 5:08 PM
friel.bsky.social
New publication on how headshield processes in ostracoderm fishes worked like control surfaces on planes to stabilize and maneuver. 🐟🧪

Sanchez-Sanchez V, Sanisidro O, Ferrón HG. Functional aspects of the headshield processes in ostracoderms. Paleobiology. 2025:1-13.

doi.org/10.1017/pab....
An illustration of a fighter jet compared to an ostracoderm fish with similar control surfaces, colored in yellow on each.
July 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
friel.bsky.social
Carmona Baez, A., et. al. 2025. Gut length evolved under sexual conflict in Lake Malawi cichlids, Genetics, Volume 230, Issue 3, July 2025, iyaf102. 🐟🧪

doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Phenotypic analysis of body standard length and gut length data. a) Phenotypic survey of individuals raised under common diet and housing conditions supports a genetic basis of normalized intestine length variation by species. Letters in parentheses indicate trophic level of species (C, carnivore; H, herbivore; O, omnivore). Inset fish images are representative individuals of parental species for hybrid cross. b) Binning intestine length data by trophic level of species shows that carnivores have significantly shorter intestines than omnivores or herbivores, but omnivores and herbivores are not significantly different from each other. The hybrid F2 mapping population (MmAkF2) exhibits intermediate normalized intestine length distinct from both carnivore and omnivore–herbivore species bins (ANOVA with Tukey's HSD, different letters indicate significance at P < 0.05). c) Standard body length and d) gut length in the parental species (N = 10 each) of the hybrid cross, and female (N = 218) and male (N = 230) individuals of the hybrid F2 population (t-test, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01). e) Scatter plot of standard length vs gut length for individuals in the F2 mapping population (circles), and the parental samples (squares: M. mbenjii; triangles: A. koningsi). The linear regression line of the model GL∼SL with confidence interval is shown for the F2 individuals. f) Residuals of the model GL∼SL are not significantly different by sex in the F2 hybrids. All sampled F2 individuals (N = 495) are presented in a) and b). Only the F2 individuals with unambiguous sex calls and used for mapping (N = 448) are included in c–e).
July 10, 2025 at 1:28 PM
friel.bsky.social
Biodiversity, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Ostariophysi (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii): What We Know Today After Three Decades of Integration of Morphological and Molecular Data.🐟🧪

mdpi.com/2673-6500/5/...
Phylogenetic hypotheses for Cypriniformes. (a) A phylogenomic study using 219 loci and 172 species; (b) phylogenetic study based on six nuclear loci and using 81 species
July 9, 2025 at 6:43 PM
friel.bsky.social
Bland, Joshua et al. 2025. Comparison of diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes. iScience, Volume 28, Issue 7, 112970.🐟🧪

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Time-calibrated phylogenetic tree of lungfishes, showing the greatest species diversity during the Devonian period
July 9, 2025 at 12:45 PM
friel.bsky.social
Moderate extinctions and slow recovery of non-marine teleost fishes across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, with a systematic appraisal of early Paleocene teleost fishes from Saskatchewan, Canada, and Montana, USA. Palaeontologia Electronica, 28(2):a28. 🐟🧪

palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
Higher-level taxonomic patterns of relative abundances of teleosts through the Hell Creek Formation and lower half of the Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation, Garfield County, Montana, USA. Data from the Pine Cree Park (PCP) locality of the Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada was included to fill the temporal gap (Puercan 2 NALMA substage or Pu2) in the Montana record. Percent relative abundances are based on centra per locality (vertical stacked columns; see Table 1 and Brinkman et al. [2021, table 2 and figure 20] for details), with each locality identified at the top of the figure and their total sample size (N) indicated in parentheses. Taxa are listed at the bottom of the figure, with their total sample sizes (N) per geologic unit indicated in parentheses; the first value (to the left of the first forward slash) is the total sample size from the Hell Creek Formation, the middle value is from the Tullock Member, and the last value is from the PCP locality of the Ravenscrag Formation. The colorized box next to each taxon name corresponds to the colorized portions in the vertical stacked columns. See the caption for Figure 22 for an explanation of the chronostratigraphic framework. Figure modified from Brinkman et al. (2021, figure 20). Abbreviations: FH, Fox Hills Formation; K-Pg, Cretaceous-Paleogene; Ma, million years; Mbr./Fm., member or formation; NALMA, North American Land Mammal “age”; Pmag., geomagnetic polarity chron; Pu1, Pu2 (gray because Pu2 fauna has not been found in the local area), Pu3, Puercan 1, 2, 3; Strat. (m), stratigraphic position in meters relative to the K-Pg boundary; To1, Torrejonian 1.
July 8, 2025 at 6:22 PM
friel.bsky.social
This may be an unpopular opinion, but my favorite part of "Jurassic World: Rebirth" was the brief shot of a #Dunkleosteus head being handled by fishermen.
Still shot of a scene from "Jurassic World: Rebirth" which shows fishermen handling a Dunkleosteus head
July 6, 2025 at 12:11 AM
friel.bsky.social
Crikey! @almnh.bsky.social received a special delivery from Triebold Paleontology today for #FossilFriday, and museum staff are already bonding with our new life-size #Deinosuchus friend as we get it ready for a future exhibit.
A lifesize reconstructed Deinosuchus skull mount surrounded by several UA Museums staff members.
June 20, 2025 at 7:51 PM