Natalia Rybczynski

Natalia Rybczynski, Ph.D., is a Canadian paleobiologist, professor and researcher.

She is a research scientist with the Canadian Museum of Nature and holds a professorship at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her doctorate was obtained at Duke University and her main interests are evolutionary functional morphology, particularly at the polar climes.

Rybczynski is notable for having discovered a previously unknown carnivorous arctic mammal, a proto-seal, which represents a "missing link" between land-dwelling mammals and modern day ocean-going seals. Puijila darwini was discovered in 2007 on Devon Island in the Canadian arctic. Discovery of this specimen was announced in the journal Nature in April of 2009. She has also contributed to the understanding of the biomechanics of Suminia, a primitive mammal thought to exhibit early evidence of teeth and jaw structure specialized for chewing.

She is the niece of writer and architect Witold Rybczynski.

Selected publications

• A semi-aquatic Arctic mammalian carnivore from the Miocene epoch and origin of Pinnipedia
• Earliest evidence for efficient oral processing in a terrestrial herbivore
• Cranial morphology and phylogenetic significance of suminia getmanovi, a late permian anomodont from Russia
• A 3D animation model of Edmontosaurus (Hadrosauridae) skull for testing chewing hypotheses
• Castorid phylogenetics: Implications for the evolution of swimming and tree exploitation in beavers
• Pliocene Arctic temperature constraints from the growth rings and isotopic composition of fossil larch wood
• Cranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of Suminia getmanovi, a basal anomodont (Amniota: Therapsida) from the Late Permian of Eastern Europe

External links

• Natalia Rybczynski at the Canadian Museum of Nature
• Carleton University: Rybczynski
• National Geographic article on Suminia

Persondata
Name	Rybczynski, Natalia
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death