Rodrigo Figueroa
@rodrigoichthys.bsky.social
🇧🇷 & 🇨🇷. Postdoc at Harvard MCZ working on #Paleozoic #fishes, soft-tissue preservation and #brain evolution (he/him)
Pinned
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
You can find more about my research on fish evolution here: rtfigueroa.wixsite.com/my-site
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
Communities need used-book shops.
As the trends in our world are increasingly standardized and entrenched by "predictive" technologies that stifle innovation and reduce human actions into economic categories...
We need a full range of possibilities for readers and communities to explore and share.
As the trends in our world are increasingly standardized and entrenched by "predictive" technologies that stifle innovation and reduce human actions into economic categories...
We need a full range of possibilities for readers and communities to explore and share.
November 27, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Communities need used-book shops.
As the trends in our world are increasingly standardized and entrenched by "predictive" technologies that stifle innovation and reduce human actions into economic categories...
We need a full range of possibilities for readers and communities to explore and share.
As the trends in our world are increasingly standardized and entrenched by "predictive" technologies that stifle innovation and reduce human actions into economic categories...
We need a full range of possibilities for readers and communities to explore and share.
where there’s a will there’s a government trying to destroy the way
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
where there’s a will there’s a government trying to destroy the way
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
Applications now open for the International Travel Stipends to attend #Evol2026! Funds cover registration, travel, food, and lodging. Apply by January 30: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci... @evolmtg.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Applications now open for the International Travel Stipends to attend #Evol2026! Funds cover registration, travel, food, and lodging. Apply by January 30: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci... @evolmtg.bsky.social
1yo - my mom chose plastic fossil fish to decorate my first birthday party;
4yo - hitting a quartzite wall with a hammer it falls over me (but I love it);
5yo - I watch Jurassic Park;
6yo - I find my first fossils;
(continued)
4yo - hitting a quartzite wall with a hammer it falls over me (but I love it);
5yo - I watch Jurassic Park;
6yo - I find my first fossils;
(continued)
November 23, 2025 at 2:58 AM
1yo - my mom chose plastic fossil fish to decorate my first birthday party;
4yo - hitting a quartzite wall with a hammer it falls over me (but I love it);
5yo - I watch Jurassic Park;
6yo - I find my first fossils;
(continued)
4yo - hitting a quartzite wall with a hammer it falls over me (but I love it);
5yo - I watch Jurassic Park;
6yo - I find my first fossils;
(continued)
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
BOLSONARO PRESO
November 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
BOLSONARO PRESO
The interplay of different structures of the vertebrate head is such a fascinating topic that I want to make my whole career be about it
A paper in Scientific Reports shows that chameleons have evolved a longer, coiled optic nerve that is likely to provide “slack” to reduce tension on the optic nerve during the extensive rotations characteristic of the chameleon eye. go.nature.com/3JTSgQ1 #evosky 🧪
November 13, 2025 at 11:09 PM
The interplay of different structures of the vertebrate head is such a fascinating topic that I want to make my whole career be about it
I’m happy that sponges are back to their sacred place
November 13, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I’m happy that sponges are back to their sacred place
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
..you're either writing or you're thinking about writing..all the time.
~ #itswhatwedo
~ #itswhatwedo
November 9, 2025 at 8:40 AM
..you're either writing or you're thinking about writing..all the time.
~ #itswhatwedo
~ #itswhatwedo
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
It's irritating that they describe the effects of his racism as limited to causing controversy within science and reputational consequences for himself rather than giving an immeasurable boost, false veneer of legitimacy, and idiot-friendly prestige to modern scientific racism and eugenics.
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
It's irritating that they describe the effects of his racism as limited to causing controversy within science and reputational consequences for himself rather than giving an immeasurable boost, false veneer of legitimacy, and idiot-friendly prestige to modern scientific racism and eugenics.
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
Hoje é um dia histórico. Demos um passo decisivo para um país mais justo, com um sistema tributário que torna a contribuição mais equilibrada e reconhece o esforço de todos que ajudam a construir o Brasil. (+)
November 5, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Hoje é um dia histórico. Demos um passo decisivo para um país mais justo, com um sistema tributário que torna a contribuição mais equilibrada e reconhece o esforço de todos que ajudam a construir o Brasil. (+)
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
@friedmanlab.bsky.social @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social @fishfetisher.bsky.social I’m finding your GARS at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History! Hope you’ll share some for #GarWeek next week!
November 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
@friedmanlab.bsky.social @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social @fishfetisher.bsky.social I’m finding your GARS at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History! Hope you’ll share some for #GarWeek next week!
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
I'm telling my student the horrors of Brazilian academic job searches on Halloween and that seam fitting
October 31, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I'm telling my student the horrors of Brazilian academic job searches on Halloween and that seam fitting
Nanotyrannichthys is my suggestion if anyone is describing a small lizard fish (fossil or extant)
Going to name the next new early Silurian fossil crinoid species Nanotyrannocrinus. You know, because of the Liliput effect
October 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Nanotyrannichthys is my suggestion if anyone is describing a small lizard fish (fossil or extant)
anaJEANSis x cladoJEANSis
October 27, 2025 at 11:51 PM
anaJEANSis x cladoJEANSis
My first book chapter should be out soon and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone!
October 26, 2025 at 11:22 PM
My first book chapter should be out soon and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone!
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
New preprint led by the brilliant @aleksandra-marconi.bsky.social on cichlid brain diversification, fgf8a signalling and regulatory divergence with TEs on the mix! All part of a wonderful collaboration with @ebablab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@camzoology.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@camzoology.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
New preprint led by the brilliant @aleksandra-marconi.bsky.social on cichlid brain diversification, fgf8a signalling and regulatory divergence with TEs on the mix! All part of a wonderful collaboration with @ebablab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@camzoology.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@camzoology.bsky.social
Today I wrapped a fish in a cut piece of a pool noodle and two bottle caps to then blast it with Xrays and get a model of its brain.
Doing science is the best!
Doing science is the best!
October 22, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Today I wrapped a fish in a cut piece of a pool noodle and two bottle caps to then blast it with Xrays and get a model of its brain.
Doing science is the best!
Doing science is the best!
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
With Halloween fast approaching, I'm reminded of a time a few years ago the lab surprised me with costumes based on my past profile pics. Complete with actual elements of my wardrobe, supplied by my partner who was in on the act. (I'd spent the past week wondering where my clothes went.)
October 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
With Halloween fast approaching, I'm reminded of a time a few years ago the lab surprised me with costumes based on my past profile pics. Complete with actual elements of my wardrobe, supplied by my partner who was in on the act. (I'd spent the past week wondering where my clothes went.)
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
Great spotlight on our recent @currentbiology.bsky.social paper!
www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01167-4
www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01167-4
October 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Great spotlight on our recent @currentbiology.bsky.social paper!
www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01167-4
www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01167-4
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
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...
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
October 7, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwD...
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
"...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 🧪
October 3, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"...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 🧪
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
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.
October 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
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.
Reposted by Rodrigo Figueroa
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.
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
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
September 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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.