Mark Westneat 🐟
@mwestneat.bsky.social
Biologist at UChicago interested in biomechanics, phylogenetics and evolution, structure and function, marine biodiversity and conservation, fishes of coral reefs and freshwaters
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Autocorrect has become our worst enema.
November 19, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Autocorrect has become our worst enema.
We are doing a food drive across multiple Departments and programs at UChicago. Our box in Culver Hall for Organismal Biology and Anatomy is now greatly overflowing 🤙 To the food pantries soon!
November 19, 2025 at 9:35 PM
We are doing a food drive across multiple Departments and programs at UChicago. Our box in Culver Hall for Organismal Biology and Anatomy is now greatly overflowing 🤙 To the food pantries soon!
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
Happy Halloween! We are THE haunted Harper Ave block in Hyde Park, and will serve candy to thousands of South Side Chicago kids tonight! I have a bunch of cool skulls out in the yard but the baseball graveyard is the most popular. 😆
October 31, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Happy Halloween! We are THE haunted Harper Ave block in Hyde Park, and will serve candy to thousands of South Side Chicago kids tonight! I have a bunch of cool skulls out in the yard but the baseball graveyard is the most popular. 😆
Seems like the L flag was bad luck. Brewers are now 0-3 after using it to celebrate their opponents loss. Oops.
October 17, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Seems like the L flag was bad luck. Brewers are now 0-3 after using it to celebrate their opponents loss. Oops.
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
ICB
From the Evan's lab!
Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational #Modularity in the Lunar #Wrasse Skull
by
Hugi,& @sternarchella.bsky.social et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Evans lab
koryevans.weebly.com/people.html
From the Evan's lab!
Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational #Modularity in the Lunar #Wrasse Skull
by
Hugi,& @sternarchella.bsky.social et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Evans lab
koryevans.weebly.com/people.html
October 15, 2025 at 11:19 AM
ICB
From the Evan's lab!
Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational #Modularity in the Lunar #Wrasse Skull
by
Hugi,& @sternarchella.bsky.social et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Evans lab
koryevans.weebly.com/people.html
From the Evan's lab!
Developmental and Functional Interactions Structure Patterns of Variational #Modularity in the Lunar #Wrasse Skull
by
Hugi,& @sternarchella.bsky.social et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Evans lab
koryevans.weebly.com/people.html
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Our killer team of @mfarjo.bsky.social, Ryan Isdonas, Andrew George, and @mwestneat.bsky.social found:
🐠head/body shapes are related to diet
🐠fishes have pairs of high/low aspect ratio propulsive fins (caudal/pectoral)
🐠caudal fins have the highest evolutionary rates & covary with body/pectoral fins
🐠head/body shapes are related to diet
🐠fishes have pairs of high/low aspect ratio propulsive fins (caudal/pectoral)
🐠caudal fins have the highest evolutionary rates & covary with body/pectoral fins
October 12, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Our killer team of @mfarjo.bsky.social, Ryan Isdonas, Andrew George, and @mwestneat.bsky.social found:
🐠head/body shapes are related to diet
🐠fishes have pairs of high/low aspect ratio propulsive fins (caudal/pectoral)
🐠caudal fins have the highest evolutionary rates & covary with body/pectoral fins
🐠head/body shapes are related to diet
🐠fishes have pairs of high/low aspect ratio propulsive fins (caudal/pectoral)
🐠caudal fins have the highest evolutionary rates & covary with body/pectoral fins
So excited to see our paper on #phylogenetics and #morphometrics integrated with feeding #ecology in the surgeonfishes by @linnealungstrom.bsky.social get posted, her first in a series on their incredibly cool biology. 🐟🦑🧪🌎🌿
No better reason to join Bluesky then to say the first chapter of my PhD is out as a preprint! New surgeonfish phylogeny, ecomorphological relationships, evolutionary shape correlations-with NEW method to accurately account for phylogenetic covariation among shapes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes
Patterns of evolutionary change in the fin and body shapes of fishes are strongly related to dietary ecology and locomotor mechanisms, and associations between shapes affects ecomorphological relation...
www.biorxiv.org
October 12, 2025 at 3:15 AM
So excited to see our paper on #phylogenetics and #morphometrics integrated with feeding #ecology in the surgeonfishes by @linnealungstrom.bsky.social get posted, her first in a series on their incredibly cool biology. 🐟🦑🧪🌎🌿
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
No better reason to join Bluesky then to say the first chapter of my PhD is out as a preprint! New surgeonfish phylogeny, ecomorphological relationships, evolutionary shape correlations-with NEW method to accurately account for phylogenetic covariation among shapes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of fin and body shape in the surgeonfishes
Patterns of evolutionary change in the fin and body shapes of fishes are strongly related to dietary ecology and locomotor mechanisms, and associations between shapes affects ecomorphological relation...
www.biorxiv.org
October 11, 2025 at 12:44 PM
No better reason to join Bluesky then to say the first chapter of my PhD is out as a preprint! New surgeonfish phylogeny, ecomorphological relationships, evolutionary shape correlations-with NEW method to accurately account for phylogenetic covariation among shapes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Seems worth noting this award in light of the present circumstances. Get the troops out of our fair city please, perhaps after they enjoy a great Malnati’s pizza!
October 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Seems worth noting this award in light of the present circumstances. Get the troops out of our fair city please, perhaps after they enjoy a great Malnati’s pizza!
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 27, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Join us! We are hiring a new #curator at the #AMNH in #Vertebrate #Zoology careers.amnh.org/postings/4600 #academicjobs #tenuretrack
Assistant Curator, Vertebrate Zoology
The Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) seeks an Assistant Curator in either the Department of Ornithology, Ichthyology, or Mammalogy to start on or after J...
careers.amnh.org
September 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Join us! We are hiring a new #curator at the #AMNH in #Vertebrate #Zoology careers.amnh.org/postings/4600 #academicjobs #tenuretrack
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Drone observations reveal white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fins are highly flexible and possible investigatory structures
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪🌎🦑🦈🐠
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪🌎🦑🦈🐠
Drone observations reveal white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fins are highly flexible and possible investigatory structures
Drones are becoming increasingly useful in their ability to observe wildlife. They have been especially useful in documenting marine animals such as sharks. Here we present novel aerial drone observa....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 11, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Drone observations reveal white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fins are highly flexible and possible investigatory structures
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪🌎🦑🦈🐠
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧪🌎🦑🦈🐠
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Aren't they lovely? Congratulations to my great colleague Bud Freeman, this is the culmination of over a decade of work!
www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
Two new species of Micropterus (Centrarchidae) endemic to Atlantic Slope river drainages in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, U.S.A.
| Zootaxa
www.mapress.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Aren't they lovely? Congratulations to my great colleague Bud Freeman, this is the culmination of over a decade of work!
www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...
September 3, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
I'm aware that the President likes to go on television and beg me to call him to ask for troops.
I find it strange, as Chicago doesn't want troops.
I also have experience asking him for assistance – just to have the rug pulled up from underneath me when execution meets reality.
I find it strange, as Chicago doesn't want troops.
I also have experience asking him for assistance – just to have the rug pulled up from underneath me when execution meets reality.
September 2, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I'm aware that the President likes to go on television and beg me to call him to ask for troops.
I find it strange, as Chicago doesn't want troops.
I also have experience asking him for assistance – just to have the rug pulled up from underneath me when execution meets reality.
I find it strange, as Chicago doesn't want troops.
I also have experience asking him for assistance – just to have the rug pulled up from underneath me when execution meets reality.
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Excited to share the first paper from my PhD!
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
August 28, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Excited to share the first paper from my PhD!
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
Ever wonder how the axial locomotor system is arranged into segmented myomeres of red and white muscle in a large pelagic surgeonfish? Well, now you know! 🐟🧪🦑
August 27, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Ever wonder how the axial locomotor system is arranged into segmented myomeres of red and white muscle in a large pelagic surgeonfish? Well, now you know! 🐟🧪🦑
Reposted by Mark Westneat 🐟
I’m proud to announce my first first-author paper of my Ph.D! We described and modeled the muscle architecture of a pangolin’s tongue using DiceCT and 3D modeling approaches. Each model is available on the Holliday lab Sketchfab.
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
sketchfab.com/holliday/col...
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
sketchfab.com/holliday/col...
3D Muscle Architecture of the Tongue of the White-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) Reveals a Muscular Hydrostat
Synopsis. The tongues of pangolins are among the more derived of other mammalian ant-eating specialists, extending nearly a body length to capture food. Pa
academic.oup.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I’m proud to announce my first first-author paper of my Ph.D! We described and modeled the muscle architecture of a pangolin’s tongue using DiceCT and 3D modeling approaches. Each model is available on the Holliday lab Sketchfab.
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
sketchfab.com/holliday/col...
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
sketchfab.com/holliday/col...
Naso! Great genus of surgeonfishes, sporting the vicious cutting scalpel blades at the base of their tail. Here is a better color photo of that bignose where you can see the tail blades.
🐟🦑🧪🌎
🐟🦑🧪🌎
August 26, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Naso! Great genus of surgeonfishes, sporting the vicious cutting scalpel blades at the base of their tail. Here is a better color photo of that bignose where you can see the tail blades.
🐟🦑🧪🌎
🐟🦑🧪🌎
Bignose Unicornfish! Yep, Naso vlamingii, a very nice specimen for our research, collected with permit. They have 2 wicked sharp scalpel blades on each side of their tail base, but are they venomous? We will know soon!
🐟🦑🌿🧪🌎
🐟🦑🌿🧪🌎
August 26, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Bignose Unicornfish! Yep, Naso vlamingii, a very nice specimen for our research, collected with permit. They have 2 wicked sharp scalpel blades on each side of their tail base, but are they venomous? We will know soon!
🐟🦑🌿🧪🌎
🐟🦑🌿🧪🌎
Acanthuriform fishes! Research goals on Moorea are focused on morphology and evolution of defensive spines and backbones of surgeonfishes, angelfishes, and butterflyfishes. We have a scientific permit to collect specimens, and here are 2 beauties, Acanthurus lineatus and Pygoplites diacanthus. 🐟🦑🧪
August 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Acanthuriform fishes! Research goals on Moorea are focused on morphology and evolution of defensive spines and backbones of surgeonfishes, angelfishes, and butterflyfishes. We have a scientific permit to collect specimens, and here are 2 beauties, Acanthurus lineatus and Pygoplites diacanthus. 🐟🦑🧪
Local Moorea fish markets are interesting, with stringers hung (and often taxonomically sorted!) on the side of the road. Gotta get there early- these were mostly gone by about 5:30 am. Some good specimens for Linnea and Olivia’s research! 🐟🧪🦑🌎
August 21, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Local Moorea fish markets are interesting, with stringers hung (and often taxonomically sorted!) on the side of the road. Gotta get there early- these were mostly gone by about 5:30 am. Some good specimens for Linnea and Olivia’s research! 🐟🧪🦑🌎
The Red-Vented Bulbul stopped by my cottage on Moorea. You can just see his red ass! 🧪🌿🐦⬛
August 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM
The Red-Vented Bulbul stopped by my cottage on Moorea. You can just see his red ass! 🧪🌿🐦⬛