Keiffer Williams

Rapid and repeated evolution of pigmentation patterns in reef fishes - BMC Biology Background Pigmentation patterns are central to animal biology—shaping camouflage, signaling, and mate selection—and uncovering the mechanisms driving their diversification is key to understanding the...

Rapid and repeated evolution of pigmentation patterns in reef fishes

#ichthyology

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Piranha bite force and tooth stress are fantastically high for their size! Check out our new paper on computational modeling of the cranial muscles and bite mechanics of the amazing piranhas. #biomechsky 🐟🧪🌿

link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...

Congratulations!

My first PhD dissertation chapter has been published! Let me know if you need a copy.

Complete species-level phylogeny of Madagascar’s tufted-tailed rats, Eliurus (Rodentia: Nesomyidae) reveals hidden diversity
doi.org/10.1093/zool...

And please enjoy this sonnet I wrote to summarize it:

A flyer for a fish biomechanics course at the Friday Harbor Labs this summer.

Every other summer we run a fish biomechanics course at Friday Harbor Labs. It is an awesome opportunity to learn the tools of biovisualization while experiencing the rich fish diversity of the Salish Sea. Come join us!
🧪

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

🧪🐠 I am hiring a postdoc! Work will be on patterns of biodiversity across phylogenetic scales using teleost fishes as a model. Apply by end of Jan 2026 for full consideration apply.interfolio.com/179070 I encourage folks to reach out with any questions. Please Share!

My pet gar that I donated to Shedd Aquarium would recognize me and swim over to say hi when I visited her exhibit ❤️🐠

A rare hybrid gar, I raised her since she was 2 inches long, and had to re-home her when I moved to Chicago. I was happy I could visit her in her new home!

TO BE CONTINUED…

A new analysis of Dunkleosteus terrelli reveals its massive jaws were far more cartilage-rich than once thought, reshaping ideas about muscle layout, bite mechanics & feeding style. Time to rethink this Devonian apex predator.
Engelman et al.:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.

I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/

Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.

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/...

Hey, if you’re thinking about comparative anatomy textbooks for the Spring semester, you should check out ours! Free, open access, and peer-reviewed!

Genome-wide phylogeny reshapes our understanding of the evolution of deep-sea dragonfishes, bristlemouths, viperfishes, and allies (Stomiiformes) - BMC Ecology and Evolution Background The evolutionary relationships within Stomiiformes, a diverse order of deep-sea fishes dominating the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones, remain contentious due to conflicting morphological...

New phylogeny and family-level classification of Stomiiformes (viperfishes, hatchetfishes, bristlemouths)

bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

@omgitsmejenny.bsky.social talks about her masters thesis on the effects of flower temperature on pollinator visitation and behavior

Occlusal view of the teeth of a sheepshead fish, which is just a horror show of teeth.

Love how fish will just evolve a truly horrifying number of teeth to crush shelled creatures. Absolute nightmare, my students love seeing this stuff. From Cynthia Worcester's master's thesis (2012; linked below).

digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1215/

Our paper on perceptions of punctuated equilibrium - including suggestions for how to teach about this essential evolutionary concept - is now available online! doi.org/10.1017/pab....

Teaching human evolution in Alabama high school biology classrooms: the LUDA project - Evolution: Education and Outreach Background Multiple factors, including the context (human or non-human) in which evolution is learned and whether explicit efforts are made to try to reduce the conflict between evolution and religion...

I'm delighted that the first publication from a National Science Foundation-funded study I led studying the development and implementation of teaching resources on human and non-human evolution in Alabama high school biology classrooms was published a few days ago! (1/2)

Who Nose What Flows: Shark Narial Denticle Morphology and Hydrodynamic Implications Synopsis. Dermal denticles (scales) are important in influencing the movement of water around a shark’s body. To date, most of the research on denticle mor

I finally did it. My first chapter is FINALLY written and out for all to see. If you’ve attended my talks you 100% know what this is about. If you haven’t attended my talks, shark nostrils are more interesting than we thought. Enjoy! academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...

These are the most challenging times for early-career scientists and engineers.

My team is doing its bit to help by maintaining and even expanding our database of funding opportunities for early-career researchers.

We found 437 of them.

Download it freely here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

Postdoctoral Researcher All Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre...

Fun news: I'm hiring a postdoc in ichthyology!

Please spread the word #TeamFish, and message me if you have questions.

(Job requisition id is R00107333 if LSU link below takes you elsewhere.)

lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/de...

I'm so excited to share my master's research! Do pollinators change their foraging behavior depending on floral and ambient temperatures? Do flowers that thermoregulate experience higher rates of pollinator visitation? Check it out below! 🏵️

New Comparative Anatomy Textbook! Completely free to read and open access!

doi.org/10.59319/YHF...

Schematic of how we measured live clingfish suction performance in a water tunnel with pressure transducers

In @fishguy.bsky.social’s lab we have done many studies on the suction cups of dead clingfish. In this new paper, @fishyologist.bsky.social et al and I found that clingfish can control their suction and stick harder than dead ones! @sicbjournals.bsky.social 🐟 🧪

DM for PDF

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

New fish paper! We found that Clinocottus globicpes eats anemones (weird!) using a novel wrestling behavior + strong jaws that likely started as adaptations for tearing algae. It also has thick skin that protects it from stinging cells. @jzoology.bsky.social 🐟🧪

DM for PDF.

doi.org/10.1111/jzo....

Incompatibility between two major innovations shaped the diversification of fish feeding mechanisms Large teeth and highly protrusible jaws are two feeding innovations that have evolved in fishes. High-speed videography and comparative phylogenetic analyses indicate that they are incompatible with e...

Out today in @plosbiology.org! We show that two major advances in fish feeding - highly protrusible jaws and large teeth - are functionally and evolutionarily incompatible with each other. @mikemihalitsis.bsky.social and Peter Wainwright. Free to read: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

I'm defending my dissertation next week, Monday June 30th at 10 AM ET. DM for a zoom link if interested!

Thanks Peter! Spoiler alert: no blenny teeth used, but blennies are still the best 😎

Thanks Emily! 🐟

Finally, a special shout out to all the museums that loaned specimens used in this study: @bellmuseum.bsky.social, Etnier Ichthyological Collection at UT Knoxville, Field Museum, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Yale Peabody Museum. Now more than ever, #MuseumsMatter #CollectionsMatter