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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 3h

I got to examine this amazing specimen first hand while it was in John Lundberg's lab at Duke. He was slowly working on its description but it has not yet been published. Not sure of its current whereabouts, but it could possibly be at ANSP since he worked there last before retiring.

Black and white photo of the dorsal surface of the skull of a fossil catfish found in Arkansas in 1983.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 22h

This reminds me of the two-headed bull shark pup described in 2013. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Radiograph and (b)–(d) magnetic resonance imagery of a two-headed bull shark pup. (a) The horizontal white lines indicate the locations of the sections shown to the right (lines, top to bottom, correspond to slices (b)–(d). DPC, dispondylous precaudal centra; H, heart; I, intestine; L, liver; MPC, monospondylous precaudal centra; O, oesophagus.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Warning: This paper contains cute baby clams attached to baby fish photos.

Photos of glochidia on larval lake whitefish. The individual in (A) and (B) (10.6 mm total length) was collected in West Bay, Lake Superior, and had one glochidium on its pelvic fin (B, C). The individual in (D) and (E) (13.2 mm total length) was collected in Tahquamenon Bay, Lake Superior, and had one glochidium near its gills (E, F). The individual in (G), (H), and (J) (14.1 mm total length) had one glochidium near its mouth (H, I) and one glochidium near its gill (J, K). Magnification values are shown for each row of photos.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Peter and I actually did research on triggerfish back in the day. They do indeed have teeth from hell, but are also one of the most delicious fishes to eat.

Low resolution image of a the title page of the following publication. John P. Friel, Peter C. Wainwright; Evolution of Motor Patterns in Tetraodontiform Fishes: Does Muscle Duplication Lead to Functional Diversification?. Brain Behav Evol 1 September 1998; 52 (3): 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1159/000006560

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Sorry, I could not resist this comparison.😀

Photo of the cover of the book entitled "Butt or Face?" by Kart Lavelle which feature the butt of an okapi with a pair of googly eyes.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My thoughts today are with the >19 million specimens held by the Academy of Natural Sciences and the dedicated staff who care for them. This ANSP holotype specimen is special to me, as I named it for my advisor, John Lundberg, a former ANSP Curator and authority on all catfishes, living, and fossil.

Composite image of the holotype specimen of Pseudobunocephalus lundbergi housed at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Welcome to the AI Slop edition of "Tell me you know nothing about the dentition of pufferfishes". 🤮

An example of AI Slop featuring an AI generated image of a puffer fish with numberous pointed teeth.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

One of the greatest pleasures in my life is being able to identify a natural object for someone else. I was reminded of that today when I identified a bone found by a local kid, and his father reached out to my museum to help identify it. P.S.: ID is in the ALT text if you don't know what it is. 😀

Photo of a darkly stained lower jaw bone of a Virginia Opossum with a measuring tape for scale.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I've always imagined the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a biblically accurate Magnapinna.

Touched by His Noodly Appendage, a parody of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, is a common depiction of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Arne Niklas Jansson.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Voici le crâne de la bête / Behold the skull of the beast. #FossilFriday

Skull of the fossil whale Odobenocetops leptodon on display at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

He's angry he is not on the list.

Image of a Sarcastic Fringehead fish with it's mouth wide open.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Guilty as charged. mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

Results from a dialect quiz with a results showing my dialect is most like someone from New York, which is correct for me.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Behold this cephalic spine from a Cretaceous age hybodont shark! 😈🦈 This specimen was recently discovered by a UA student during a museum-led fossil hunt in Greene County, AL. Two pairs of these striking spines adorned the heads of male hybodont sharks. #FossilFriday #RollTide

A compete cephalic spine fossil from a hybodont shark resting in a person's palm.

Life reconstruction of a female and male Hybodus hauffianus, based primarily on the skull and horn arrangement proposed by Maisey (1982, 1986, 1987) and on complete body fossils of H. hauffianus, also figured by Maisey. Reconstruction also in accordance with Asteracanthus. Venus and Mars symbols from public domain. Artwork by Gasmasque.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Maybe someday there will a Leedsichthys problematicus or Otodus meglaodon available for this awesome online tool. www.skeletaldrawing.com

A figure show the relative sizes of three fossil fishes compared to a person and a child.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

An awesome reference site for New World gobioids.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

There is something fishy about my Google Scholar word cloud. scholargoggler.com

A catfish-shaped word cloud based on John Friel's Google Scholar page.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Larval Mola mola mugshots is my favorite.

Micro-CT scans of a larval Mola mola specimen.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I might have an extra set of these stickers I can donate to the cause.

Two vinyls stickers. One has the text "#TeamFish" and the other "Fish>Birds".

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This a fin spine from either the dorsal or anal fin of a bony fish. In the image below it would correspond to the distal most skeletal element of the fins labeled 76 & 77.

Black and white illustration of the vertebral column and fins of a Striped Sea-bass.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

See fossil shark teeth, post fossil shark teeth for #SharkWeek. Behold this pile of Goblin Shark (Scapanorhynchus texanus) teeth from the Eutaw Formation of Alabama. I collect these each summer to be giveaways at museum outreach events.

A glass container holding hundreds of fossil shark teeth.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Of course I had to start searching for more Malm Whale images and found this one. Now I want to start a rumor that this whale was also the inspiration for the Kool-Aid Man "Wall Burst" ad campaign. Oh yeah!

Black and white photo of the Malm Whale being moved from East Indian House to its newly built premises at Gothenburg Natural History Museum, 1 November 1918. Photo: Elisabet Petersson.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Summer romance is alive and well. Behold this pair of horny toads I spotted on my morning walk with my dogs.🌿 www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Photo of a pair of Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) in amplexus.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Me on my way to check out this frogfish photo gallery.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

All the cool fishes use extra oral teeth for ornamentation. 🐟🧪

Comparison of dermal odontodes (od) in ray-finned fishes discussed in this study, †Redfieldius gracilis (a) after Schaeffer and McDonald (1978) figure 6, Denticeps clupeoides (b) after Clausen (1959) Male Ancistrus (c) after Sabaj et al. (1999) figure 2e.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

You: Please act normal, you need these people to like you. Me: OK! People: Hi. Me: Remoras, marine fish known for attaching themselves to larger marine animals, have been recently documented plunging into the cloacal orifice of manta rays, a behavior scientists officially named "cloacal diving".

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The resemblance is uncanny! What a perfect name for this awesome fish. 🐟🧪

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Cool new study on converge in pharyngeal jaw morphology in molluscivorous catfishes and cichlids. 🐟🧪 R. F. Bentley, R. A. Collins, M. J. Genner, 2026. Evolutionary innovation of functional fused molariform pharyngeal jaws in suckermouth catfishes, Evol. J. Linn. Soc. doi.org/10.1093/evol...

A figure from a scientific publication showing the similarities of the pharyngeal jaw morphology of a catfish and a cichlid fish that specialize on feeding on mollusks, along with a image of shell fragments contained in the feces of the catfish Planiloricaria cyptodon.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Behold this stunning Eastern Copperhead. This morning I relocated this individual for a neighbor and was reminded just how magnificent these maligned creatures are, and was thankful that a kind soul reached out to me rather than killed it on the spot out of fear. 🌿

Color photo of a live Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) resting on top fallen leaves on the ground.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Crispim JL, P Argüello, GSC Silva, C Oliveira, KR Luckenbill & MH Sabaj, 2026. After eight decades: a new species of Pterobunocephalus (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) from the upper Putumayo, Napo and Pastaza rivers, Ecuador. Neotropical Ichthyology 24:e250162.🐟🧪 doi.org/10.1590/1982...

Holotype of Pterobunocephalus carvalhoi from the Napo River basin, Ecuador, coordinates 00°27’53”S 76°19’09”W, MEPN-I 20199, 69.9 mm SL. Scale bar = 10 mm. Photo by P. Argüello.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This bird was stunning! Here is my shot of the same male Indigo Bunting right before it was released after being tagged by Alabama Audubon.

A male Indigo Bunting being held in a person hand if it was captured and banded by Alabama Audubon staff at the 2026 Red Mountain Park Bioblitz.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

You may now proceed to step 2. 😀

A meme image featuring a man with a lamprey attached to his forehead with the title "HOW TO ABSORB THE WISDOM OF THE ANCESTORS 1 - FIND ANCESTOR....2 - ATTACH TO BRAIN".

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Wait, a new GAR Challenger from the Old World has entered this year's GARch Madness competition. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belonop...

Photo of a live specimen of the gar-like African distichodontid fish, Belonophago hutsebouti.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Cool AL fossil find! Drumheller, S. K., Robin O’keefe, F., Mayhall, M. L., Stalker, E., & Brochu, C. A. (2026). A bite to the throat: A probable Xiphactinus attack on a Polycotylus from the Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk of Alabama, U.S.A. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi.org/10.1080/0272...

Scientists discovered a huge tooth embedded in the neck of a fossil of a four-meter-long Polycotylus from the Mooreville Chalk of Alabama. Credit: University of Tennessee

Cervical vertebra of Polycotylus latippinus, FMNH PR 187, in (from left to right) right lateral, anterior, and posterior views. Photographs in the top row show exposure of the osteichthyan tooth of the surface of the centrum; bottom row shows the tooth segmented out, along with the pulp cavity of the tooth. The tooth entered the centrum at the midline, and was driven completely through, exiting near midcentrum on the anatomically right side at the junction of the face lateral surface of the centrum. Abbreviations: bm?, possible bite mark; c, tooth crown; d, microbial decay.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Say hello to my newest Alligator #Gar friend that I met this past weekend at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

Photo of a taxidermied Alligator Gar on display at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson, Mississippi.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Gotta Catch 'Em All! Behold these #Pokémon themed cards created by #ALMNH staff and students for an upcoming public event. Each card features common fossil shark teeth found in the Black Belt region of Alabama. #FossilFriday

Pokémon themed card featuring fossil shark teeth from Squalicorax.

Pokémon themed card featuring fossil shark teeth from Scapanorhynchus.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Laissez les bons temps rouler! A coworker just gifted me this bead necklace featuring the infamous sketch of Crichton Leprechaun for use on both Mardi Gras and St. Patricks Day in Alabama. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crichto...

Green Mardi Gras bead necklace with a medallion of the infamous sketch of the Crichton Leprechaun.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

When the lead photo is AI-generated, I have to wonder if the story is as well.

Screen capture of a Sightengine.com results page detecting that a submitted photo of a Bluefin Tuna is AI-generated.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Centrophorus harrissoni, for me, because it does not live up to its common name.

Illustration of a Dumb Gulper Shark (Centrophorus harrissoni).

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

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.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

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.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

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.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

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)

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

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.

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

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.

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