PhD. Edwin Cadena
Geologist-Vertebrate paleontologist
edwin.cadena@urosario.edu.co
Current position
Associate Professor, Director Earth System Science Program
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
www.urosario.edu.co/facultad-ciencias-naturales-matematicas/Inicio/
Research group: Neotropical Paleontology, traditional and molecular (PaleoNeo)
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow. Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation-Senckenberg Museum, Germany 2012-2015
PhD in Geology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. 2012
MSc in Geology. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. 2009
BSc in Geology. Universidad Industrial de Santander - Bucaramanga, Colombia. 2001
Research interests
Understanding the evolution of vertebrates in the tropical region of South America, establishing the events involved in their current diversity and geographical distribution. Additionally, I am interested in the exploration of soft-tissue and biomolecules preservation in the fossil record, using turtles as case of study. Topics of my research include systematics, phylogeny (morphology and molecular), paleobiogeography, paleoecology, bone histology, and molecular paleontology. The combination of traditional paleontology with molecular paleontology, including paleogenomics and paleoproteomics allows to approach biological and evolutionary events and questions from a broader perspective, a field that is just starting.
Current projects
Origin and evolution of Neotropical biodiversity. This is a project leaded by the Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archeology of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama). I have worked in this project initially as an intership and currently as associate researcher. Participating in fieldwork, collection and preparation of fossils, biostratigraphy, paleontological study of the fossils, public and scientific talks and meetings, as well as documentaries, as Titanoboa Monster Snake, produced by Smithsonian Chanel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI14qp4KvGo
Geologist-Vertebrate paleontologist
edwin.cadena@urosario.edu.co
Current position
Associate Professor, Director Earth System Science Program
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
www.urosario.edu.co/facultad-ciencias-naturales-matematicas/Inicio/
Research group: Neotropical Paleontology, traditional and molecular (PaleoNeo)
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow. Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation-Senckenberg Museum, Germany 2012-2015
PhD in Geology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. 2012
MSc in Geology. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. 2009
BSc in Geology. Universidad Industrial de Santander - Bucaramanga, Colombia. 2001
Research interests
Understanding the evolution of vertebrates in the tropical region of South America, establishing the events involved in their current diversity and geographical distribution. Additionally, I am interested in the exploration of soft-tissue and biomolecules preservation in the fossil record, using turtles as case of study. Topics of my research include systematics, phylogeny (morphology and molecular), paleobiogeography, paleoecology, bone histology, and molecular paleontology. The combination of traditional paleontology with molecular paleontology, including paleogenomics and paleoproteomics allows to approach biological and evolutionary events and questions from a broader perspective, a field that is just starting.
Current projects
Origin and evolution of Neotropical biodiversity. This is a project leaded by the Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archeology of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama). I have worked in this project initially as an intership and currently as associate researcher. Participating in fieldwork, collection and preparation of fossils, biostratigraphy, paleontological study of the fossils, public and scientific talks and meetings, as well as documentaries, as Titanoboa Monster Snake, produced by Smithsonian Chanel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI14qp4KvGo
2015-2018
* Excavation, rescue, and preservation of three new exceptional shells for the world's largest turtle, from the late Miocene (~5 Ma) from Venezuela. Funded by Waitt Foundation-National Geography Society.
* Exploring the potential preservation of original organic biomolecules in osteocytes and blood vessels-like (OBv-Like) from Messel pit fossil vertebrates, using mass spectrometry and antibody-phase techniques. Funded by Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.
* New fossil turtles from La Venta, Villavieja Formation, Colombia, their importance for understanding the origin and evolution of extant threatened South American species.
* A gravid marine fossil turtle from Villa de Leyva, Colombia, and its relevance for understanding marine turtle reproductive evolution along the deep time.
* Excavation, rescue, and preservation of three new exceptional shells for the world's largest turtle, from the late Miocene (~5 Ma) from Venezuela. Funded by Waitt Foundation-National Geography Society.
* Exploring the potential preservation of original organic biomolecules in osteocytes and blood vessels-like (OBv-Like) from Messel pit fossil vertebrates, using mass spectrometry and antibody-phase techniques. Funded by Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.
* New fossil turtles from La Venta, Villavieja Formation, Colombia, their importance for understanding the origin and evolution of extant threatened South American species.
* A gravid marine fossil turtle from Villa de Leyva, Colombia, and its relevance for understanding marine turtle reproductive evolution along the deep time.
Exploring preservation and paleobiological implications of bone cells-soft tissues. Currently, I am exploring the preservation of osteocytes and blood vessels from Messel pit, La Venta, and Gobi desert fossil turtles, trying to identify mechanisms of preservation and paleophysiological significance of fossil "cells-blood vessels", for example metabolic rate, paleogenomics, and estimation of body size, as well as developing new methods to study and explore preservation of original biomolecules in those soft structures.
