Matt Friedman
@friedmanlab.bsky.social
990 followers 720 following 300 posts
Vertebrate evolutionary biologist | Professor University of Michigan | Director & Curator UMMP | he/him/his
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Reposted by Matt Friedman
bingcailiu.bsky.social
Excited to share our research on the evolution of fossil forests from the Devonian to Jurassic! By analyzing 38 global fossil forests, we explored key parameters to better understand how these fossil forests developed over time.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ea...
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Also also also: I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing colleagues' names/images pop up in museum exhibits.
Image of shark dermal denticles, provided by Erin Dillon et al. Cladogram in tyrannosaur exhibit referencing Brusatte et al. Photograph of excavation of the Clapp Family mastodon. UMMP's Scott Beld is in foreground.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Also also: this room done up as a cabinet of curiosities was fun.
Room with deep red walls and floors, with an ornate chandelier. The room includes a mastodon skeleton and a host of stuffed birds in cases. There is no interpretive text to be seen--just stuff.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Also: this lovingly restored reptile display in classic mid 20th century style.
Display reading "Life histories of Michigan reptiles" featuring irregularly shaped, overlapping solid-color panels with text and models of a snake and turtle.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
GRPM Michigan dioramas cont.
Model showing magnified examples of life in a drip of water. Cyanobacterial filaments crisscross the scene, with a handsome Daphnia visible near the center of the image. Diorama of a Michigan marsh with a heron in the foreground. Diorama of a Michigan deciduous forest in early autumn, with foliage still on trees and ranging from yellow to red. A male whitetail deer is in the background, partially concealed by a tree. A small group of whitetail deer emerge from the edge of a corn field where it abuts a forest.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Fall breaks for U-M and AAPS coincided, so I took the kids to West Michigan and stopped at the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the first time. Home to some beautifully done dioramas depicting Michigan ecosystems.
Diorama depicting a pack of wolves on a snowy night, stalking prey visible in the distance. Diorama of a moose family congregating around a pond. Diorama of a west Michigan scene depicting the transition from a forest to a sandy set of dunes along the Lake Michigan coast. An Igloo cooler and pair of hiking boots lie in the sand at the middle of the scene, suggesting someone has left them there at the start of a hike. Diorama depicting a deciduous forest, with an owl in a low tree branch and a fox and kit scampering past a fallen log on the forest floor.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Spookiest decoration at the "Zoo Goes Boo" event at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids? Giant model of parasitoid wasps hatching from cocoons affixed to their caterpillar host.
Large model of a green caterpillar, the back of which is covered by dozens of white cocoons. Wasps can be seen emerging from some of the cocoons.
Reposted by Matt Friedman
mattepritchard.bsky.social
"Good things don't end with eum, they end with mania..."
-Homer

How about both? Today is Fossilmania at the Museum of the Earth where they are giving away decommissioned specimens today: www.museumoftheearth.org/visit/events
Events — Museum of the Earth
www.museumoftheearth.org
Reposted by Matt Friedman
villesinkkonen.bsky.social
Vetulicolian studies. Cambrian weirdos #sciart
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Opportunity to manage one of the world's great herpetology collections and join the outstanding community of museum folks here at U-M! 🐍🦎🐢🐊🐸
chrisdick.bsky.social
Michigan's #UMMZ Reptiles and Amphibians Collections Manager position is now open. Join a great museums group and help manage the world's second largest herpetology research collection. Please share! careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...
Res Museum Collection Manager | U-M Careers
careers.umich.edu
friedmanlab.bsky.social
School of Pteraspis in a diorama at the KU Natural History Museum for #FossilFriday
Models of jawless fishes swimming in a diorama.
Reposted by Matt Friedman
fishfetisher.bsky.social
Showing off the @ummnh.bsky.social Fish Collection for ID Day! #TeamFish
Emily standing at a table filled with fish specimens Fish specimens on a tray. From left to right: pike, seahorse, monkfish, bamboo shark Small preserved boxfish on a tray. Preserved fish on a table. Top is a large swordfish skull. Bottom are left to right: porcupine pufferfish,  burrfish, batfish
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Great paleo showing at today's ID Day at the U-M Museum of Natural History!
Group of smiling people squinting in bright sunlight standing in building atrium in front of large pterosaur model. Three people sitting behind a table with assorted specimens, including partial bison skull. Large window behind table shows a university campus in bright sunlight. Photograph of building atrium taken from second floor. Large pterosaur is suspended from ceiling, with tables covered in specimens along the walls of the first floor.
Reposted by Matt Friedman
tsengzj.bsky.social
New preprint: Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction. #Paleontology #Mammals #Extinction

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

TLDR: S. China mammals diversified dentally, tracked environment, then leveled up bite mechanics all within the first 10 m.y. post K-Pg.
Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction
The first 10 million years (Myr) following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction marked a period of global greenhouse conditions and dramatic rise of placental mammals. Because ~80% of known...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Matt Friedman
khaichung.bsky.social
So excited and grateful to receive R24 NOA from NIH ORIP to create an integrated #zebrafish omics, histology and microCT 3D atlas!

Looking forward to an exciting work with Dr. Postlethwait of U of Oregon, who is the co-PI of the grant.
Reposted by Matt Friedman
liujuan.bsky.social
Excavated from the Pisces Point locality of Scollard Formation in Alberta, Canada, ~67 million years old, Acronichthys maccognoi, newly reported in @science.org, was recovered from ancient water body that flipped seasonally between fast-flowing channels and quiet, still pools.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Another fish gig!
justineasmith.bsky.social
Job Alert! Assistant Prof of Fish Ecology at
@wfcbucdavis.bsky.social, with a focus on freshwater and anadromous coldwater fishes. This is a wonderful and supportive place to work. Please share with your fishy friends! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07351
Assistant Professor of Fish Ecology
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucdavis.edu
Reposted by Matt Friedman
clarkeocrinus.bsky.social
This is the only "complete" crinoid in my collection, from holdfast to crown.

It's easy to see why they are sometimes called sea lilies, even though they are animals related to starfish and sand dollars.

This is Abatocrinus gallatinensis from the Mississippian Lodgepole Fm of MT.

#FossilFriday
Crinoid with "feathered" arms, long stem and holdfast root system.
Reposted by Matt Friedman
liujuan.bsky.social
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.
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Check out this rare faculty-curator position at OU:
daveyfwright.bsky.social
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪

Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
A job ad with multiple images, including the exterior of the museum, a view of collections (jars on shelves), and pictures of some cool, tropical fish but I don't know enough about fish to describe them other than to say they're pretty colors of yellow and blue/green
Reposted by Matt Friedman
abbiestev.bsky.social
If any of you fine folks are planetarians in (or want to be in) mid-Michigan, the Abrams Planetarium is hiring a full-time-staff position for the first time in 11 years!! Come work with the astro, scicomm, and informal ed folks at MSU!! 🔭 🧪 (reskeets welcome) careers.msu.edu/jobs/educati...
Educational Program Coordinator II - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The program coordinator will maintain the planetarium, present live shows, and create new planetarium visualizations. In addition, this position will assist customers, assist in educa...
careers.msu.edu