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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 2h

The Ernest Mayr here at MCZ is a great option (travel is not restricted just to Harvard) nhttps://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ernst-mayr-travel-grants

Ernst Mayr Travel Grants | Museum of Comparative Zoology

www.mcz.harvard.edu

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 1d

My unsolicited #eel fact for today is that there are ten species of Gulper Eels (Saccopharynx) while there is only a single species of Pelican Eel (Eurypharynx ).🐟

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwD...

Throwback to one of our earliest encounters with a deep-sea gulper eel

YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · 5d

"...although analyses of extant phylogenies can estimate extinction rates and even suggest mass extinctions, they cannot imply trilobites ever existed or that sphenodonts (now represented only by the tuatara) were once as diverse as lepidosaurs (lizards and snakes)." #FossilFriday 🧪

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Juan Liu @liujuan.bsky.social · 6d

New in @science.org, meet Acronichthys maccagnoi, a new species from Late Creatacous Canada that changes what we know about the origins and evolution of one of the most successful fish groups on Earth.

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 11d

The unfairness of the fossil record

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 11d

OK, head above water briefly and can say a few things about a paper that came out a few weeks ago in @royalsocietypublishing.org on Platysomus and kin.

University of Michigan News @umichnews.bsky.social · 20d

U-M researcher @friedmanlab.bsky.social helps identify the first time fish evolved a toothy, tongue-like structure, an early innovation in the way fish eat. #Science
Learn more: https://news.umich.edu/310-million-year-old-fossil-takes-a-bite-out-of-fish-evolutio

310-million-year-old fossil takes a bite out of fish evolution

U-M researcher discovers an early innovation in the way fish eat

news.umich.edu

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 11d

Find us a brain so we can pinpoint where they fit in relation to the crown

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Danielle Beckman @daniellebeckman.bsky.social · 11d

A blood vessel in the brain for #FluorescenceFriday! Why am I looking at these in the microscope? (1/3)

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 12d

Uma questão que sempre fica de fora dessas discussoes é o quão antiquado e limitante é o modelo dos concursos para docência em universidades públicas. Exigir processo presencial com prova no século 21 é no mínimo surreal...
Como atrair pesquisadores de fora (inclusive brasileiros) desse jeito?

Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 12d

100%!! Thank you so much for sharing!

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 12d

Please help me get a job in a different country

Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Jun 18

If universities anywhere are hiring an Evolutionary Biologist/Paleontologist please let me know! I'm on the market for Tenure Track positions!!

You can find more about my research on fish evolution here: rtfigueroa.wixsite.com/my-site

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 18d

lol thanks? 😅

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 18d

Today I was looking at some diceCT scans and started to think: how many undescribed species we have inside the guts of museum specimens?

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 21d

Just learned chessboxing is a thing and now I'm sad I lost the opportunity to be good at something

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 23d

We actually have very little data to answer this question in fishes, but from what we have so far there doesn’t seem to be a trend in brain and/or brain cavity size increase for most lineages

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 25d

Cichlids are the worst part of the best clade but I highly vouch for working with Matt and Hernan!!

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 25d

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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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Sep 4

I absolutely love how this marvelous structure looks like in CT scans. Any guesses of what it is?
clue: 🏓

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · Sep 2

A comprehensive survey of scientists across ecology, evolution, and marine science has revealed significant disruptions to federal research programs following executive branch actions that began January 20, 2025.

www.firsthandaccounts.org/home

Impacts on Science

This website hosts information about the impacts of federal and state policies since January 20, 2025 on the fields of ecology, evolution, marine science, and environmental science in the USA. Partici...

www.firsthandaccounts.org

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

Emily Troyer @fishfetisher.bsky.social · Sep 1

Excited to announce that the 1st paper from my postdoc is now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! Using a large dataset of 3D preserved fossils, we explore the diversification of jaws in early bony fishes. 1/15
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Macroevolutionary role reversals in the earliest radiation of bony fishes

Troyer et al. examine lower jaw evolution in Silurian-Devonian bony fishes and find substantial differences in patterns of morphological disparity, rates of shape evolution, and functional diversity b...

www.cell.com

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Aug 26

The world if scientists could focus on the actual science and public engagement rather than worry about funding/employment and having to write proposals all the time:

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Aug 25

I assume the ike jime emails arrive from my work on fish brains

Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Aug 25

Trying to resist the urge of writing a book on fish prep and cooking from the viewpoint of an ichthyologist.

Already get occasional emails from people asking about ike jime… might as well write about it 😂

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Aug 20

And here’s a CT scan projection of a MCZ specimen!

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Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa

John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · Aug 7

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.

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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · Aug 5

Also gives Tegeolepis vibes

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