Zach
reallyoldfish.bsky.social
Zach
@reallyoldfish.bsky.social
2nd year PhD student in the Friedman Lab at the University of Michigan. Volunteer @ Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Pitt alum

Fan of fishes, particularly extinct ones
A bit of a pleasant surprise to wake up to actual snow this morning. Hopefully it stays this way this winter!
November 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Vestiges of a once great radiation persist in another “ganoid” of North American slackwaters (Amia, the bowfin). Halecomorphs, of which Amia is a part, include things as unique as the marine pelagic predator Caturus, from the Jurassic of Germany. #fossilfriday #neoptposting
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I dream of being a long snouted predator in the backwaters of Laurentian rivers, but for now I crush shells with my round teeth and am sad #garweek #scheenstiaposting #totalgroupginglymodi
November 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Go dahn to dem polls and vote!!
November 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Brief trip home before going across the pond next week. Fall colors are popping in the hills and the sounds of trains echoing through the fall air of the Allegheny valley reminds me of the model train setup at the Kamin Science Center that I loved as a kid.
November 3, 2025 at 11:20 PM
I wonder if my fish dreams transfer over to her, and make her hungry
October 31, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Holosteans are weird. Try to guess what this cursed bone is. From a modern fish, if that helps
October 30, 2025 at 11:45 PM
This #fossilfriday , I wanted to post a very classic Pittsburgh fossil. This is Fedexia striegeli. It’s known from only one specimen (shown here) that was collected during a geology field trip to a roadcut near Pittsburgh in 2004. I credit it as the specimen that made me interested in local verts!
October 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Very fishy Friday..
October 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Happy national fossil day, from one of the many fishes that haunt my dreams
October 15, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Listen man, I really hate acanthodians. Long time followers (from the X days) know this. But I hate them.

Anyways here’s a pectoral spine of one from the Pittsburgh Coal member of the Monongahela Group. Late Pennsylvanian.
September 26, 2025 at 3:02 AM
consider the gizzard
September 15, 2025 at 11:44 PM
September 15, 2025 at 10:39 PM
no comment
August 31, 2025 at 11:03 PM
April 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The density of invertebrates in vernal pools is insane. Hundreds of thousands of little crustaceans (fairy shrimp and copepods) that are only alive for a few weeks. Insane that these habitats are not legally protected.
March 31, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A beautiful day to stand up for science, and to see old friends.
March 7, 2025 at 8:22 PM
More signs of spring. An eager Ambystoma maculatum migrating last night before the snow. So chunky.
March 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
February was a difficult month (and March is shaping up to be the same). But I’m not sick anymore, and working from home on account of spring break. The lengthy winter in the US provided well-needed rest for forests, and signs of spring are starting to pop up. This Epigaea repens is one such sign.
March 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM
my best sick day buddy (which unfortunately there have been a lot of recently)
March 3, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Pittsburgh friends, I will be there!!
February 28, 2025 at 1:15 AM
How a fossil should look when you scan it…
February 19, 2025 at 2:44 AM
struggling to kick whatever mysterious illness I have. cat is keeping me company.
February 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
struggling to kick whatever mysterious illness I have. cat is keeping me company.
February 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Posting this for no particular reason..
February 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM