Assistant Curator of Paleobotany
Negaunee Integrative Research Center
Fabiany Herrera grew up in Colombia, surrounded by the Andes and its many types of forests; from montane to rainforests. He first became interested in rocks and mountains during his high school years and quickly fell in love with fossil and living plants later as an undergraduate student. Some of Fabiany's work includes the earliest evidence of Neotropical rainforests in South America (~60 million years old), enigmatic plants from Mongolia and China (~125 million years old), and fossil floras from Central America (~35-20 million years old).
Education and Work
- Ph.D., Botany, 2014, University of Florida
- M.S. Geology, 2008, University of Florida
- B.S. Geology, 2005, Industrial University of Santander, Colombia- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Chicago Botanic Garden, 2014-2021.
- Adjunct Faculty Member, Biology Department, Elmhurst University, 2017 to present.
- Research Associate, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. 2005 to present
Accomplishments
Key publications of Fabiany include the following. See more in Fabiany’s lab website.
Herrera F., Testo W.L., Field A.F., Clark E.G., Herendeen P.S, Crane P.R., Shi G. 2022. A permineralized Early Cretaceous lycopsid from China and the evolution of crown clubmosses. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17874
Shi G., Herrera F., Herendeen P.S., Clark E.G., Crane P.R. 2021. Mesozoic cupules and the origin of the angiosperm second integument. Nature. 594: 223–226 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03598-w
Herrera F., G Shi, M. A. Bickner, N. Ichinnorov, A. B. Leslie, P. R. Crane, and P. S. Herendeen. 2021. Early Cretaceous abietoid Pinaceae from Mongolia and the history of seed scale shedding. American Journal of Botany 108(8): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1713
Carvalho M.R., Jaramillo C., de la Parra F., Caballero-Rodríguez D., Herrera F., et al. 2021. Extinction at the end-Cretaceous set the origin of modern Neotropical rainforests. Science. Vol. 372, Issue 6537, pp. 63-68. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abf1969
Herrera F., Shi G., Mays C., Ichinnorov N., Takahashi M., Bevitt JJ., Herendee PS., Crane PR. 2020. Reconstructing Krassilovia mongolica supports recognition of a new ...
Research Sketch
Fabiany’s research investigates:
- The evolutionary origin of the tropical rainforests and flowering plant lineages.
- The study of Mesozoic plants to improve understanding of the timing of events in seed plant evolution.
- Paleobiogeographic and paleoclimatic history of the Cenozoic.
- Integrated paleobotanical and neobotanical studies of plant diversity and evolution.
Learning Resources
2025 Field Explorers Oppoutunities
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Búsqueda del Tesoro español
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Chef Jessica Pamonicutt Discusses Cooking and Fry Bread
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Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery Exhibition Overview
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Dia de los Muertos 2022
Dinopalooza Flyer
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