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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 26d

Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.

Multicolored CT model of a fossil cichlid skeleton. Image credit: Austin Babut (project technician).

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

Jack Tamisiea @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social · Sep 7

Last week I had my mind blown by the tenaculum,
a fleshy club-like appendage growing out of a male ghost shark's forehead. The structure is studded with teeth and used to keep females close during mating.

Latest for @nytimes.com explores the structure's evolution: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/s...

Get to Know the Ratfish and the Forehead Teeth It Uses During Sex

www.nytimes.com

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Sep 7

Excellent article on our latest ghost shark forehead "jaw" paper @pnas.org; written by @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social
@nytimes.com - "Get to Know the Ratfish and the Forehead Teeth It Uses During Sex" 👻🦈🦷 @karlycohen.bsky.social @ufresearch.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/s...

Get to Know the Ratfish and the Forehead Teeth It Uses During Sex

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

Aaron Griffing @aaronhgriffing.bsky.social · Sep 5

New preprint from some of my postdoc work on lungs! Co-led with Kaleb Hill, we studied smooth muscle and epithelial development in lizard lungs. Stay tuned for more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

brightfield images of three lizard embryos of approximately the same developmental stage. Below each embryo image is an immunofluorescence image labeling E-cadherin (green) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (magenta) of their developing lungs

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Sep 4

Super excited to share our new paper, out today @pnas.org 'Teeth outside the jaw: Evolution and development of the toothed head clasper in chimaeras' @karlycohen.bsky.social 👻🦈 🦷 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Teeth outside the jaw: Evolution and development of the toothed head clasper in chimaeras | PNAS

Chimaeras (Holocephali) are an understudied group of mostly deep-ocean cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) with unique characteristics that disti...

www.pnas.org

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Sep 3

Excited to share our new paper by @danpaluh.bsky.social out today in @royalsociety.org Open Science; with a great team, including undergraduate researchers! "The metamorphic transition of the frog mouth: from tadpole kertanized mouthparts to adult teeth" 🦷🐸
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

The metamorphic transition of the frog mouth: from tadpole keratinized mouthparts to adult teeth | Royal Society Open Science

Teeth have been a prominent feature of most vertebrates for 400 million years, and the core regulatory network underlying embryonic tooth formation is deeply conserved. In frogs, however, odontogenesi...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Sep 3

Ever wondered how #sharks produce an unlimited supply of teeth? Our new preprint uncovers the genes within the dental stem cell niche driving lifelong tooth development. "Shark tooth regeneration: RNAseq reveals genes for unlimited dental renewal" 🦈🦷
bit.ly/47kkRHL

Shark tooth regeneration: RNAseq reveals genes for unlimited dental renewal

Sharks are masters of tooth regeneration with a rapid and unlimited tooth supply. We present a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis across five distinct compartments from the embryonic shark mouth, c...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

Dan Paluh @danpaluh.bsky.social · Sep 2

Our new paper is out in Royal Society Open Science! The metamorphic transition of the frog mouth: from tadpole keratinized mouthparts to adult teeth doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

bioRxiv Developmental Biology @biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · Aug 31

Shark tooth regeneration: RNAseq reveals genes for unlimited dental renewal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672487v1

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Aug 27

Check out this "donut" Sandbar #Shark (Carcharhinidae) embryo in #3D, #VR or #AR via @sketchfab.bsky.social, photogrammetry by Kayla Evans @floridamuseum.bsky.social. This specimen is from a set of embryos with spinal deformations. @ufresearch.bsky.social

skfb.ly/pAqxN

Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinidae - 3D model by FloridaMuseum

A fluid preserved Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, from the Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Collection (UF 108719). This specimen is a fetus that has a spinal column deformity. O...

skfb.ly

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Jul 23

An article I wrote on the legacy of JAWS for the 50th anniversary was picked up by Australian Geographic! 🦈🦈 ausgeo.co/jaws

50 years after ‘Jaws’ the man-eater myth has been retired - Australian Geographic

In the half a century since Jaws was released we know so much more about sharks’ amazing biology.

ausgeo.co

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

Rory Cooper @rorylcooper.bsky.social · Jun 26

Here's a tortoise embryo developing inside its egg. Check out our new article in @cp-iscience.bsky.social to learn how molecular and mechanical systems sculpt their intricate head scales 🐢🧪
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Jun 24

First case of parthenogenesis in an intersexual zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) having incomplete claspers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

PBS News @pbsnews.org · Jun 23

In 1975, “Jaws” – the tale of a killer great white shark that terrorizes a coastal tourist town – captured people’s imaginations and simultaneously created a widespread fear of the water. (via @us.theconversation.com)

It's been 50 years since the blockbuster movie ‘Jaws,’ but there's more to be revealed about shark biology

A shark expert, whose own curiosity about these fascinating fish was sparked by the movie "Jaws," explains some of their unique features and the many discoveries made in the decades after its release.

buff.ly

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Jun 22

PBS News @pbsnews.org posted my article with @theconversation.com on the progress of shark science and the evolving perception of sharks since the release of 'JAWS', 50 years ago! 🦈🦈🦈 #jaws #jaws50 #sharks

PBS News @pbsnews.org · Jun 21

In 1975, “Jaws” – the tale of a killer great white shark that terrorizes a coastal tourist town – captured people’s imaginations and simultaneously created a widespread fear of the water. (via @us.theconversation.com) buff.ly/fRa4vkp

Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Jun 18

50 years after ‘Jaws,’ researchers have retired the man-eater myth and revealed more about sharks’ amazing biology theconversation.com/50-years-aft...

50 years after ‘Jaws,’ researchers have retired the man-eater myth and revealed more about sharks’ amazing biology

A shark expert whose own curiosity about these fascinating fish was sparked by the movie explains some of their unique features. Many discoveries came in the decades after ‘Jaws.’

theconversation.com

Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Jun 16

The “Tooth Hurty” Joke Has Its Origins In Ancient, Armored Fish - defector.com/the-tooth-hu...

The "Tooth Hurty" Joke Has Its Origins In Ancient, Armored Fish | Defector

Whenever Yara Haridy, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago, shows off the fossils she works with, people are often disappointed. Unlike the statuesque bones of dinosaurs or even the small spi...

defector.com

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · May 29

Cool shot of a super clear Catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) egg. These shark egg cases vary in their transparency. This one is particularly see through. 🦈🦈🦈

Transparent shark egg case showing an embryonic small-spotted Catshark.

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Reposted by Gareth Fraser

New Scientist @newscientist.com · May 23

Toothache may be hundreds of millions of years old. Teeth first evolved as sensory organs, not for chewing, according to a new analysis of animal fossils.

The first teeth were sensory organs on the skin of ancient fish

Teeth are good for chewing and biting, but they are also sensitive – and that may have been their original function hundreds of millions of years ago

www.newscientist.com

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Apr 16

That look!! 👀 Our resident Bobcat came to visit this morning; captured on the backyard trail-cam! Such an awesome sight. I wonder if we'll have bob-kittens soon. 🐆 #bigcat #bobcat #backyardwildlife

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preLights @prelights.bsky.social · Apr 11

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the… frog? – the not-so bite-sized mystery of frog tooth re-evolution 🐸🦷

Check out this really fun post by @ryanharrison13.bsky.social, covering recent work from @danpaluh.bsky.social & team #preprint

#preLight ⬇️ 👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/t...

Tooth development in frogs: Implications for the re-evolution of lost mandibular teeth and the origin of a morphological innovation - preLights

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the… frog? – the not-so bite-sized mystery of frog tooth re-evolution 🐸🦷

prelights.biologists.com

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Gareth Fraser @garethjfraser.bsky.social · Apr 8

New Pre-Print Alert! "Teeth Outside the Jaw: Evolution and Development of the Toothed Head Clasper in Chimaeras." We use fossil evidence, development and CT scans through ghost shark ontogeny to describe the emergence of the tenaculum! 👻🦈🦷 @karlycohen.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

CT scan of the head clasper (tenaculum) from the Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei), compete with its rows of shark-like teeth!

Our paper features fossil reconstruction art (of Helodus simplex) by Ray Troll - https://www.trollart.com/

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Chema Martin @chemamd.bsky.social · Mar 25

🚨Registration for the UK #EvoDevo meeting is open! Join us on July 11th in London to enjoy an exciting day of talks, posters, friends, and superb science!
-Registration (only £5!): shorturl.at/9cQGL
-More info: londonevodevo.ac.uk

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James T. Stroud @jameststroud.bsky.social · Mar 25

Exciting news! @wcratcliff.bsky.social and I published an essay last week in @nature.com reviewing the substantial contributions of 'long-term' studies to evolutionary biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Developmental Biology @devbiol.bsky.social · Mar 17

#DBfeature 🦈🦷

Evolution, development, and regeneration of tooth-like epithelial appendages in sharks

by Ella Nicklin, Gareth Fraser et al @ellanicklin.bsky.social @garethjfraser.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Morphogenesis and regeneration during shark odontode development

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