Alejandro Corrales Garcia
Ph.D. candidate
During my undergraduate studies, I engaged in diverse research endeavors. On one front, I explored the biogeography of snakes, while concurrently delving into research on paleoecology and the functional morphology of trilobites. This led me to obtain a dual bachelor’s degree in biology and Geology from the University of the Andes (Colombia). Subsequently, I pursued a Master of Science degree in Paleobiology as part of the Programme PANGEA, offered jointly by the University of Lille (France) and Uppsala University (Sweden). Here, under the guidance of Jorge Esteve, I further honed my expertise in the 3D modelling of Trilobites.
My fascination with ichnology, sparked by a serendipitous encounter with dinosaur footprints in my native Colombia, has been a driving force in my academic journey. This passion led me to embark on a Master of Science in Palaeobiology and subsequently pursue a Ph.D. in this captivating field at the University of Saskatchewan. My current PhD project aims to elucidate how trace fossils in Burgess Shale-type deposits contribute crucial insights into Cambrian ecology at community and ecosystem levels.
Supervisors: Dr. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Luis Buatois
Featured Publications:
Corrales-García, A., Esteve, J., Zhao, Y. and Yang, X., 2020. Synchronized moulting behaviour in trilobites from the Cambrian Series 2 of South China. Scientific Reports, 10(1), p.14099.
Noè, L.F., Gómez–Pérez, M., Rodríguez, J.V., Corrales–García, A. and Caranton–Mateus, W.G., 2020. Dinosaur footprints from the Lower Cretaceous, Batá Formation, Colombia (South America), and the possible interchange of large ornithopods between southern Laurasia and northern Gondwana. The Geology of Colombia, 2, pp.375-401.
Rodriguez-Corcho, A.F., Rojas-Agramonte, Y., Barrera-Gonzalez, J.A., Marroquin-Gomez, M.P., Bonilla-Correa, S., Izquierdo-Camacho, D., Delgado-Balaguera, S.M., Cartwright-Buitrago, D., Munoz-Granados, M.D., Caranton-Mateus, W.G. and Corrales-Garcia, A., 2022. The Colombian geochronological database (CGD). International Geology Review, 64(12), pp.1635-1669.
Dmitri Ponomarenko
Ph.D. candidate
I studied Geology and Physical Geography for my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Toronto, and also became interested in Zoology when it was too late to switch subjects. I have been able to combine my interest in geology, soil science, and zoology by studying mammal burrows in modern soils and Quaternary paleosols. My master’s thesis at Carleton University (Ottawa), supervised by Natalia Rybczynski, dealt with the neoichnology of rodent burrows. I then continued work on mammal burrows under the supervision of Alexander Agadjanyan at the Paleontological Institute in Moscow, Russia, where I built up a large reference collection of mammal burrows cast with plaster in the field. I have also worked with archaeological, geological and soil science expeditions throughout Russia in order to study Quaternary fossil and subfossil burrows. For my thesis, I will be working on ichnotaxobases and taphonomy of fossil and subfossil mammal burrows, as well as analyzing bioglyphs for tracemaker identification and interpretation of digging behaviour.
Ph.D. thesis: Quaternary rodent burrows
Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano
Featured Publications:
Ponomarenko, D.S., 2023. Fossil Burrows from the Eopleistocene Paleoichnological Locality of Sopaty Kurgan. Paleontological Journal, 57(3), pp.343-352.
Ponomarenko, D., 2019. The Temijbek ichnological site from the Early Pleistocene of the Caucasus foreland (Russia): Taphonomy and identification of fossil burrows. Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geowissenschaften/Beiheft, 46, pp.79-83.
Ponomarenko, D. and Ponomarenko, E., 2019. Describing krotovinas: A contribution to methodology and interpretation. Quaternary international, 502, pp.238-245.
Zane Goodell
Ph.D. candidate
I’m an American paleontology/ichnology student born in New Mexico and raised in Colorado. My passion for the ancient world began with weekly trips to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and has persisted to this day. I received a bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College in Geology and completed a thesis project on the longest dinosaur trackway in the world. This project eventually became a published article with the help of Dr. Martin Lockley.
I am a recent graduate from the PANGEA Erasmus Mundus Master’s program, specializing in paleobiology. My thesis project, advised by Dr. Sören Jensen and Dr. Graham Budd involved the comparison of various genera of Paleozoic spreiten ichnofossils (Syringomorpha, Alectorurus, Daedalus) to draw conclusions about their affinity, behavior, and their relationship to the evolving ecology of the Paleozoic.
Currently, I’m working on trace fossils from Ordovician organic-rich deposits in Saskatchewan and Estonia.
Thesis: Trace fossils in Ordovician organic-rich deposits
Supervisors: Dr. Gabriela Mángano, Dr. Luis Buatois
Featured Publications:
Goodell, Z. G., M. G. Lockley, S. G. Lucas, B. A. Schumacher, J. A. Smith, R. Trujillo, and L. Xing. 2021. A high-altitude sauropod trackway site in the Jurassic of Colorado: the longest known consecutive footprint sequence reveals evidence of strong turning behavior; pp. 12 in S. G. Lucas, A. P. Hunt, and A. J. Lichtig (eds.), Fossil Record 7. New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Bulletin New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque.
Lockley, M. G., Z. G. Goodell, J. Evaskovich, A. Krall, B. A. Schumacher, and A. Romilio. 2021. Small bird and mammal tracks from a mid-Cenozoic volcanic province in Southern Colorado: implications for palaeobiology. Historical Biology 1–11.
Federico Wenger
Ph.D. candidate, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
I am Federico Daniel Wenger, from Argentina. I graduated from the National University of La Plata. My Final Project “Study of the sedimentary provenance of the Villavicencio Formation, Devonian of the Mendoza Precordillera, Argentina” consisted of the study of the provenance of the Villavicencio Formation, Western Argentina. Although that work is mainly focused on zircon morphology and typology, it also includes petrological and geochemical analyses.
I studied the ichnology and sedimentology of the Talacasto Formation, in western Argentina. This Lower Devonian unit is located north of the Villavicencio Formation in the same geological province (Precordillera). The project involves the sequential stratigraphy of the unit due to the comparison of three different localities from north to south involving different positions of the Devonian basin.
Although the fields of work between my undergraduate project and the Master’s project are different, the interaction of these fields and their complementarity for the same region is a great contribution to my professional training.
My PhD Project deals with sedimentology, ichnology, and provenance of the Early/Middle Devonian Punta Negra Formation. This, in complement with my studies during my master’s degree with the Early Devonian Talacasto Formation, will give a complete paleoecologic and sequence stratigraphic interpretation for the Precordillera (SW Gondwana) and further understanding about the evolution of trace fossils during the middle Paleozoic.
M.Sc. Thesis: Ichnology of Devonian Shallow-Marine Deposits in Precordillera, Argentina: Delineating Changes in Ichnodiversity and Bioturbation Intensity, and Deciphering Limiting Factors. Supervisors: Dr. Gabriela Mángano, Dr. Luis Buatois
Ph.D. supervisors: Dr. Gabriela Mángano, Dr. Luis Buatois, Dr. Norberto J. Uriz
Featured Publications:
Wenger, F.D., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Muñoz, D.F. and Rustán, J.J., 2025. An anomalous shallow-marine ichnofacies gradient from the Lower Devonian Talacasto Formation of the Argentine Precordillera. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p.112747.
Arnol, J.A., Rolan, J.D., Borya, A., Do Campo, M., Rustán, J.J., Wenger, F.D., Uriz, N.J. and Cingolani, C.A., Unravelling “The Keidel Horizon”: A Multi-Proxy Analysis of a Siliciclastic Marker Bed and its Implications in the Devonian Foreland Basin Evolution of the Argentine Precordillera. Available at SSRN 5003825.
Wenger, F.D., Arnol, J.A., Uriz, N.J., Cingolani, C.A., Abre, P. and Basei, M.A., 2023. Multiproxy provenance analyses in the Devonian Villavicencio Formation of the Mendoza Precordillera, Argentina: correlation and geotectonic implications for the SW Gondwana margin. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 93(8), pp.552-570.
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