Prosanta Chakrabarty

Had a wonderful time at James Madison University these last few days where I gave a talk about evolution and another about my research and natural history museums. Always great seeing how other places do things while meeting new students and faculty.

Our paper’s out! 🐟👀 How does the four-eyed fish Anableps see in air and water at once? It expanded its air-facing ventral retina and redeployed existing opsins there. Congrats Louise Perez @perezlouise.bsky.social & Lina Shi! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

People publishing papers about organisms without putting an image or picture of the organisms in the paper….

Natural history museums are at an inflection point that started with the auctioning of dinosaurs. If Fort Hays State (Sternberg) or Drexel (Acad.Nat.Sci.) think they can monetize collections (i.e., sell natural history specimens); museums become safety deposit boxes instead of research institutes.

Our short note in BioScience, in response to a comment about our idea that topotypes might be useful as an alternative when viewing type specimens is intractable. 'Recognizing topotypes as valuable does not diminish other issues in democratizing taxonomy' academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Please share And FYI: Review of applications will begin 11/16/26 ...

Exciting news! We here at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social and Dept. of Biological Sciences are looking for Curator and Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Paleobiology! Come work with us! We are fun, supportive and active! lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...

Here's a gift article on why everyone should care: share.inquirer.com/Tt1WYq

Loved reading ‘80 Days’ about the 1889 race around the world (in opposite directions) by two intrepid women - both reporters in New York City. The women were very different (although they had many coincidental parallels in their lives) and came back with different views of the world. 🌎

this labyrinth is indisputable

Quoted in this article for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social For the record, I think the age estimates here for sturgeon are highly inflated. But the life history of these ancient fishes deserves a second look. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

My friends, one way we can help get more smart folks over to Bluesky is if we can make it a useful place for scholars to promote their work. Help me share this, and consider pre-ordering a copy of my book or requesting that your local library buy a copy. 🦑🌍🧪🐟 #SciComm

Another big potential #FishJob Curator of Fishes (or Mammals, but let it be ichthyology) at the American Museum of Natural History careers.amnh.org/postings/4925

Another big potential #FishJob Curator of Fishes (or Mammals, but let it be ichthyology) at the American Museum of Natural History careers.amnh.org/postings/4925

NSF memo implementing Trump’s ‘golden age’ of science unsettles researchers | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Awesome news - for now.

Just finished the most excellent ‘This Thing of Darkness’ that casts Captain FitzRoy as the tragic forgotten hero of HMS Beagle and beyond. He helps Darwin grow only to see his protege stand for views that are opposite his own. It’s historical fiction but so well written and insightful.

Happy #DollyDay y’all

The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) is now accepting applications, with a deadline of 15 October. This includes the Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Love a good toothy ‘Wolf Herring’ (Chirocentridae) - it’s like finding a pigeon with fangs. This #LSU_Fish specimen is from my trip to Tanzania in 2017. Unlike other herrings (Clupeomorpha) that are mostly small and planktivorous - these fishes are meter long carnivores. #ichthyology #naturalhistory

The Hoff Crab is neither a crab nor is it David Hasselhoff. It is a Yeti Crab, which is neither a Yeti nor a Crab but a sub-group of Squat Lobsters, which are not lobsters, they're Anomurans, like Mole Crabs, which are neither moles, nor crabs.

Collections support staff will be retained so it sounds like the science will continue. For now it is only the public facing exhibits that will remain closed.

It appears that the oldest natural history institute in the United States - the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia - is closing. A real shame and not something I fully understand or can comprehend. #naturalhistory #museums drexel.edu/news/archive...

1/7 🐟🧬 New preprint! "The largest radiations of freshwater fishes initiated at the K-Pg boundary" Phylogeny of Otocephala: Clupeiformes, Alepeocephaliformes, & Ostariophysi 144 species, UCEs + whole genomes, Bayesian dating. 11,700+ species covered. Here is what we found 🧵👇

It is the 2-year anniversary of the surgery that removed a large cancerous tumor from my colon. I subsequently did 24 rounds of chemo, and then immunotherapy. I'm on a new med but still not cancer-free. I've lost friends younger than me. Please mind your health and get your screenings.

Do you like gobies? Check out 'Gobioids of the Americas'! www.gobynet.org

NSF just announced its GRFP solicitation due in October - deadline varies by field: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Now for the bad news... * NSF estimates they will issue 1,500 awards, down from 2,500+ last year. * NSF removed STEM Education and Learning Research as a Major Field.

A MODEST PROPOSAL: DOLLY PARTON DAY 9/5 THAT IS ALL.

Wanted an image of a muscular 'person' to explain that you don't inherit big muscles (I'm teaching #evolution) - the Google algorithm just showed me dudes, same when I asked for a cartoon version. If you Google "Strong Muscular Person" does it only show men, and not women or non-binary folks? Why?

Don't forget to comment! Docket is here: www.regulations.gov/search?searc... Docket number: NSF-2026-OTR-0001

Everyone loves a blobfish right? Image from @lsuscience.bsky.social Open House

Upclose of a great white opening its jaws infront of camera. Original post

Wake up babe! A new online resource for fish nerds just dropped. 🐟🧪 www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fis...

Goodbye Iberian Peninsula! - had so much fun in a very easy place to imagine I could retire to - Vila do Conde (a sleepy quiet beach 🏖️ village outside of Porto, Portugal) 🇵🇹 I love this reaction video showing it getting dark pretty quickly while I watched the #solareclipse2026 on a hill in Galicia 🇪🇸

Headed to Porto, Portugal 🇵🇹 to see the solar eclipse (and hopefully talk science with folks)! According to this list from The Century Club, this will be my 48th country or territory. I don’t think I’ll ever hit 100 but I’m ahead of my age at least. travelerscenturyclub.org/countries-an...

The reception to our paper about being neurodivergent in biology has received such a wonderful and warm reception, I am so glad that it is resonating with people and that is helping to educate our neurotypical peers! If you haven't checked it out, be sure to do so. Message me if you can't access it!

From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation iucn.org/news/202607/...

Every #sharkweek it seems ‘Megalodon ‘is still alive’ comes up.’ ‘What evidence do you have that it went extinct?’ Sharks lose their teeth all the time, like a lot. All the megalodon teeth we have found - and there are a lot of them - are from millions of years ago, fossilized stone, not recent.

It seems that the awful news is true. Kent Carpenter, eminent ichthyologist, was killed in the Philippines. A tragedy, and I’m sorry to all who knew him.

The plenary by @prosanta.bsky.social on the first day of #JMIH26 was the best introductory conference talk I’ve ever seen. The mix of society, cultural, and natural history was awesome.

🧵1/11 New paper alert! One of 2 out today from #NearLab. Tunas are basically the superheroes of the ocean — warm-blooded, massive, and blazing fast. But HOW did they get that way? A new study just cracked open 50+ million years of evolutionary history. Let's dive in. 🐟⬇️

Super excited to be going down to NOLA with my lab and I’m giving the opening plenary for the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists! #JMIH26 #ASIH2026