Matt Friedman

Be born the heir of a tractor magnate.

Among other things, Allis was involved in the founding of the Journal of Morphology. His resources helped keep the journal solvent during its first few decades.

Antique tractor on display at The Henry Ford. The tractor is painted dark green with yellow lettering above the radiator reading "ALLIS-CHALMERS."

Illustration of the skull of Polypterus. From Allis, E. P. 1922. The cranial anatomy of Polypterus, with special reference to Polypterus bichir. Journal of Anatomy, 56: 189-294.

100+ y.o. tractor @ Henry Ford with a fishy connection. Edward Phelps Allis Jr., one of the great comparative anatomists of the last century, enjoyed substantial financial support as the son of E. P. Allis Sr., founder of a manufacturing company specialized in industrial and agricultural equipment.

Brown striped Bawitius

Another interesting fish from the Kem Kem - Bawitius! This is a 3m-long bichir, a group of fish I wasn't familiar with until starting this piece. Today, members of this group don't get more than a meter in length, and are apparently popular in aquariums!

Size comparison below ⬇️

#sciart #paleoart

Very excited to be delivering a talk on the Lebanese Upper Cretaceous sites of exceptional preservation, otherwise known as the famous fish beds of Lebanon, the coming Tuesday 9 December in Dorchester for the Dorset Geologist’s Association Group. dorsetgeologistsassociation.org/index.php/ev...

Congratulations to UMMP Associate Research Scientist Miriam Zelditch on the release of the third edition of the indispensable "Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists" (a.k.a. the green book)! #FossilFriday

I always look for paleo books at used books stores. There’s an awesome one in Ann Arbor (Dawn Trader) that has had some great finds!

A view of the headshield of Megalograptus, preserved as reddish-brown cuticle on a pale grey rock. The headshield is generally equilateral in shape, with a rounded front bearing small spiny projections. A pair of round eyes are also located at the front of the head. The surface of the headshield is curved in dense, pustule-like scales.

A fossil of the second appendage of Megalograptus, preserved as dark cuticle on a light grey rock. The appendage is short with robust spines coming off of it.

A view of the body segments of Megalograptus, preserved as dark cuticle on pale grey rock. Four body segments are present, again preserving small, pustule-like scales.

One of the earliest large predatory eurypterids, Megalograptus, for #FossilFriday. Megalograptus is known from abundant - and very unusual - material from the Ordovician of #Ohio, affording an important insight into the morphology of this rather bizarre species. ⚒️🧪

There should be a Year in Review for academics but it's all the papers you meant to read but didn't.

'Tis the season for graduate school applications, so here's a reminder that I'm recruiting! My lab uses a combination of fossils, statistical phylogenetics, fieldwork, & computational methods to study macroevolutionary dynamics in the marine biosphere. Check the link below & feel free to reach out

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetic Paleoecology The burgeoning field of phylogenetic paleoecology combines paleoecological data with hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships to tease apart the roles that ecology and relatedness both play in the evo...

Out late for #FossilFriday, it's our invited @annualreviews.bsky.social paper with @sarahlsheffield.bsky.social and @bigfacecats.bsky.social on why Phylogenetic Paleoecology is useful and how to do it.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Latest paper in the Lance Grande volume is out! Several more are at proof stage so should be appearing soon.

Digital illustrations of the prehistoric jawless fish Anglaspis, Doryaspis and Drepanaspis.

No. I don’t just draw dinosaurs! These illustrations were commissioned for the Feeding Without Jaws Exhibition at @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social Check out their website - www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi... - for more details of the exhibition, which runs until the end of February. (1/4)

Ok, my first post on BlueSky...this was inside the AMNH Fossil Fish collections back in September as I was preparing my fish lectures for the AMNH/RGGS Vertebrate Paleobiology course. I'm honored to have been invited back to teach it for the third time (also 2019 & 2022).

Photogrammetric model of Kannemeyeria skull against a dark blue background.

You can give the Kannemeyeria skull a spin here: umorf.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/wp/specimen-...

Skull of the large dicynodont Kannemeyeria in three-quarters view. It has a pair of prominent tusks.

Skeleton of the sail-backed pelycosaur in right-lateral view. Only the front of the body, up to about the hips, is shown in frame.

Some AMNH display specimens with UMMP connections. Pretty sure this Kannemeyeria is a cast of UMMP VP 14530. The Dimetrodon skeleton was collected by E.C. Case in 1906, a year before he started at the University of Michigan. Case would later go on to be UMMP's first director. #FossilFriday

Last year I made a Xiphactinus pecan pie for Thanksgiving. What prehistoric fish should I do this year?

Go my Bothriolepis... This year's fish pecan pie! Bothriolepis was a peculiar-looking placoderm from the Devonian period or the Paleozoic. It had two long pointed pectoral fins and silly little eyes on top of its head.

#fossil #fish #paleontology #bothriolepis

Outstanding!

Can you teach human anatomy - or know someone who can? CWRU is recruiting, and it would be great to recruit someone from @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social

USAJOBS connects job seekers with federal jobs across the United States and around the world as the official employment site for the federal government These positions may be filled for a six month seasonal period, but can vary due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: <strong>April-May 2026</strong> <p>For more...

Foot in door! NPS paleontology seasonal positions! www.usajobs.gov/job/85081670... @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social

Great fossil.

Good fish. Is that the Hamilton Quarry macrodont?

This #FossilFriday marvel at an early Dyrosauridae from the middle Campanian Quseir Formation of Egypt! Displaying transitional cranial features, Wadisuchus is confirmed as the early-diverging dyrosauridae! Check it out: doi.org/10.1093/zool... @linneansociety.bsky.social

YouTube video by FishEvolutionLab-Edu The Library of Life - Dahiana Arcila, Ricardo Betancur-R., Ben Frable

Great video highlighting the value of natural history collections and the importance of preserving them for generations to come

Open Palaeontology (open access journal) Managing Editor job advert

Open Palaeontology (open access journal) Steering Committee job advert

*Gain skills and training in journal publishing!* Open Palaeontology is looking for Managing Editors and Steering Committee members! Please consider helping to shape community open-access publishing in palaeontology, and spread the word!
openpalaeo.org
@openpalaeo.bsky.social

To celebrate the 85th SVP Meeting 2025, we've curated a collection of landmark vertebrate palaeontology papers.

Next, #FossilFish 🐟 Osteology of 𝘌𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 (Pictet & Humbert, 1866) and some other ichthyodectiformes (Teleostei) by Cavin 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. (2012) buff.ly/FudDOqF #2025SVP #PaleoSky

An ontological morphological phylogenetic framework for living and extinct ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii) The ray-finned fishes include one out of every two species of living vertebrates on Earth and have an abundant fossil record stretching 380 million years into the past. The division of systematic kno...

Thread on today's paper, which is 3/4 from my dissertation on the evolution of fishes and using morphological data for phylogenetic analyses. Come with me, on a journey on phylogenetics and fishes.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Devonion fishies Elpistostege (close relative of the famous Tiktaalik) and couple of bothriolepis swimming by. Needs updating but still thinking this is one of my better paintings I have done

An ontological morphological phylogenetic framework for living and extinct ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii) The ray-finned fishes include one out of every two species of living vertebrates on Earth and have an abundant fossil record stretching 380 million years into the past. The division of systematic kno...

Very excited to share my exploration of the phylogenetics of early ray-finned fishes, out today in the Anatomical Record! Really busy day but I’ll have more info shortly.

anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...