Natalia Rybczynski
Adjunct Research Professor
| Degrees: | B.Sc. (Carleton), M.Sc. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Duke) |
| Phone: | 613-566-2462 |
| Email: | nrybczynski@nature.ca |
| Office: | Canadian Museum of Nature Natural History Building (Gatineau) |
| Website: | Visit My Website |
Current Research
My research addresses two major conceptual areas: (1) Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment of the Cenozoic High Arctic (2) functional morphology and evolution of feeding and locomotor systems in vertebrates. Investigative approaches are varied, often collaborative and include paleontological field work, biomechanics, anatomical dissection, fossil research, behavioral observation, and phylogenetics.
Ongoing research projects topics include:
• Reconstructing paleoenvironments and the evolutionary history of vertebrate lineages in the Neogene High Arctic.
• Land-to-sea transition in pinnipeds.
• Feeding kinematics in vertebrate herbivores (e.g., hadrosaurs).
Selected Publications
Wang, X., N. Rybczynski, C. R. Harington, S. C. White, R. H. Tedford. 2017. An Abstruse Species Revealed: A Pliocene Bear with Dental Caries from the Canadian High Arctic. Scientific Reports:1-14.
Gosse, J.C., A.P. Ballantyne, J.D. Barker, A.Z. Csank, T.L. Fletcher, G.W. Grant, D.R. Greenwood, R.D.E. MacPhee and N. Rybczynski. 2017. PoLAR-FIT: Pliocene Landscapes and Arctic Remains—Frozen in Time. Geoscience Canada 44: 47–54. https://doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2017.44.116
Fraser, Gorelick, R. & N. Rybczynski. 2015. Macroevolution and climate change influence phylogenetic community assembly of North American hoofed mammals. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 114: 485–494.
Fraser, D., C. Hassall, R. Gorelick, & N. Rybczynski. 2014. Mean Annual precipitation explains spatiotemporal patterns of mammal beta diversity and latitudinal diversity gradients in North America. PLoS ONE 9(9): 1 -10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106499
Cullen, T.M., D. Fraser, N. Rybczynski, and C. Schroder-Adams, 2014. Early evolution of sexual dimorphism and polygyny in Pinnipedia. Evolution, 68(5):1469-1484. DOI: 10.1111/evo.12360
Rybczynski N., J.C. Gosse, C.R. Harington, R.A. Wogelius, A.J. Hidy, and M. Buckley. 2013. Mid-Pliocene warm-period deposits in the High Arctic yield insight into camel evolution. Nature Communications. 4:1550 doi: 10.1038/ ncomms2516.
Csank, A.Z., A. Tripati, W.P. Patterson, R.A. Eagle, N. Rybczynski, A.P. Ballantyne & J. Eiler. 2011. Estimates of Arctic land surface temperatures during the early Pliocene from two novel proxies. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Volume 304(3-4): 291-299.
Fontanella J.E., Fish F.E., Rybczynski N., Nweeia M. Ketten D.R., 2010. Three-dimensional geometry of the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) flukes in relation to hydrodynamics. Marine Mammal Science. 27(4): 889-898.
Rybczynski N, Ross EM, Samuels JX, Korth WW. 2010. Re-evaluation of Sinocastor (Rodentia: Castoridae) with implications on the origin of modern beavers. PLoS ONE 5(11): e13990. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013990
Ballantyne, A.P., D.R. Greenwood, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, A.Z. Csank, J.J. Eberle and N. Rybczynski. 2010. Significantly warmer Arctic surface temperatures during the Pliocene indicated by multiple independent proxies. Geology. 38(7): 603-606.
Rybczynski, N., M.R. Dawson and R.H. Tedford. 2009. A semi-aquatic Arctic mammalian carnivore from the Miocene Epoch and origin of Pinnipedia. Nature 458: 1021-1024.
Rybczynski, N. 2008. Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon. Palaeobiology 34(3): 389-402.
Rybczynski, N., A. Tirabasso, R. Cuthbertson and C. Holliday. 2008. A 3D animation model of Edmontosaurus (Hadrosauridae) skull for testing chewing hypotheses. Paleontologica Electronica 11(2):1-14. http://palaeo-electronica.org/2008_2/132/index.html
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