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Natalia Rybczynski, PhD

Paleobiologist

Affliations

Researcher Associate, Canadian Museum of Nature, Palaeobiology 

 

Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Department of Earth Sciences 

​

Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Department of Biology

Address:

Ottawa, Canada

Education

​Ph.D., Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University, USA, 2003.

M.Sc., Zoology, University of Toronto - Erindale, Canada, 1996.

B.Sc. Integrated Science Studies, Carleton University, Canada, 1994.

Peer-reviewed journal publications

  • Fraser, D., N. Rybczynski, M. Gilbert & M.R. Dawson. 2025. Mid-Cenozoic rhinocerotid dispersal via the North Atlantic. Nature Ecology & Evolution. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02872-8. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Paterson, R.S., Mackie, M., Capobianco, A. et al. 2025. Phylogenetically informative proteins from an Early Miocene rhinocerotid. Nature 643, 719–724. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09231-4. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09231-4. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Carter, L. D., D. Christensen. D. M. Hopkins, J.V. Matthews Jr, R.E. Nelson, L.E. Ovenden, N. Rybczynski & T.L. Fletcher. 2024. Stratigraphy and paleontology (plant and arthropod fossils) from the Late Neogene Niguanak site, Arctic Slope, Northern Alaska, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 56:1, 2407714, DOI: 10.1080/15230430.2024.2407714. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • DeBraga, M., N. Rybczynski and R. Reisz. 2024. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 23 (9) - PAGES 119-129. DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2024v23a9.  Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Esteban, J.M., A. Martín‐Serra, A. Pérez-Ramos, N. Rybczynski, F.J. Pastor, and B. Figueirido. 2023. Investigating the land-to-sea transition in carnivorans from the evolution of sacrum morphology in pinnipeds. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 1-22. DOI:10.1007/s10914-023-09650-y  Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Davies, N.S., J.C. Gosse, A. Rouillard, N. Rybczynski, J. Meng, A.V. Reyes and J. Kiguktak. 2022. Wood Jams or beaver dams? Pliocene life sediment and landscape interactions in the Canadian High Arctic. Palaios, 37: 1-18. DOI: 10.2110/palo.2021.065. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • Fish, F.E., N. Rybczynski, G.V. Lauder, C.M. Duff. 2021. The Role of the Tail or Lack Thereof in the Evolution of Tetrapod Aquatic Propulsion.  Integrative and Comparative Biology, 61(2): 398–413. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab021. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Barendregt, R,W, J.V. Matthews, Jr., V. Behan-Pelletier, J. Brigham-Grette, J.G. Fyles, L.E. Ovenden, D.H. McNeil, E. Brouwers, L. Marincovich, N. Rybczynski, and T.L. Fletcher.  2021. Biostratigraphy, age, and the paleoenvironment of the Pliocene Beaufort Formation on Meighen Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. GSA Special Paper. 551. 1-39. DOI: 10.1130/2021.2551(01).  Refereed?: Yes.

  • Fletcher, T.L., A. Telka, N. Rybczynski, and J.V. Matthews, Jr. 2021. Neogene and early Pleistocene flora from Alaska, USA and Arctic/Subarctic Canada: New data, intercontinental comparisons and correlations. Palaeontologia Electronica. 24(1):a08. DOI: 10.26879/1121. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Plint, T., F.J. Longstaffe, F.J., A. Ballantyne, A. Telka, N. Rybczynski. 2020. Evolution of woodcutting behaviour in Early Pliocene beaver driven by consumption of woody plants. Scientific Reports. 10, 13111. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70164-1. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Paterson, R.S. (M.Sc. Student), N. Rybczynski, N. Kohno, H.C. Maddin. 2020. A Total Evidence Phylogenetic Analysis of Pinniped Phylogeny and the Possibility of Parallel Evolution within a Monophyletic Framework. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7: 457. 16pp. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00457. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Paterson, R.S. (M.Sc. Student), J.X. Samuels, N. Rybczynski, M.J. Ryan, H.C. Maddin, 2019. The earliest mustelid in North America. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 188(4): 1318-1339. DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz091. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Fletcher, T.L, L. Warden, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, K.J. Brown, N. Rybczynski, J.C. Gosse, A.P. Ballantyne. 2019. Evidence for fire in the Pliocene Arctic in response to amplified temperature. Climate of the Past. 15:1063-1081. DOI: 10.5194/cp-15-1063-2019. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Buckley, M., C. Lawless, N. Rybczynski. 2019. Collagen sequence analysis of fossil camels, Camelops and c.f. Paracamelus, from the Arctic and sub-Arctic of Plio-Pleistocene North America. Journal of Proteomics. 194:218-225. DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2018.11.014 . Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • 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. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17657-8. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • 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. DOI: 10.12789/geocanj.2017.44.116. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Mitchell, W.T., N. Rybczynski, C. Schröder-Adams, P.B. Hamilton, R. Smith & M. Douglas. 2016. Stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of a Mid-Pliocene fossil site in the High Arctic (Ellesmere Island, NU): Evidence of an ancient peatland with beaver activity. Arctic, 69 (2): 185 - 204. DOI: 10.14430/arctic4567. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • 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. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12457. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • 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. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Eberle, J.J., N. Rybczynski & D.R. Greenwood. 2014. Early Eocene mammals from the Driftwood Creek beds, Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park, northern British Columbia. Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 34(4): 739-746. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.838175

  • Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Fraser, D. & N. Rybczynski, 2014. Complexity of ruminant masticatory evolution. Journal of Morphology, 275: 1093–1102. DOI:10.1002/jmor.20284. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • Cullen, T.M. (M.Sc. Student), 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. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Davies, N.S., J. C. Gosse & N. Rybczynski. 2014. Cross-bedded woody debris from Pliocene forested river system in the High Arctic: Beaufort formation, Meighen Island, Canada. Journal of Sedimentary Research.  Journal of Sedimentary Research. 84: 19–25. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2014.5. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • 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. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Cuthbertson R., A. Tirabasso, N Rybczynski, & R. Holmes. 2012. Kinetic limitations of intracranial joints in Brachylophosaurus canadensis and Edmontosaurus regalis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae), and their implications for the chewing mechanics of Hadrosaurids. Journal of Anatomy. 295: 968-979. DOI: 10.1002/ar.22458. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Csank, A.Z., W.P. Patterson, B.M. Eglington, N. Rybczynski, & J.F. Basinger. 2011. Climate variability in the Early Pliocene Arctic: Annually resolved evidence from stable isotope values of sub-fossil wood, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 308: 339-349. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.05.038. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • 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. 304(3-4): 291-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.02.030 Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Fontanella J.E., Fish F.E., N. Rybczynski, M. Nweeia & D.R. Ketten. 2010. Three-dimensional geometry of the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) flukes in relation to hydrodynamics. Marine Mammal Science. 27(4): 889-898. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00439.x  Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski N., E.M. Ross, J.X. Samuels, & W.W. Korth. 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. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Ballantyne, A.P., D.R. Greenwood, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, A.Z. Csank, J.J. Eberle & N. Rybczynski. 2010. Significantly warmer Arctic surface temperatures during the Pliocene indicated by multiple independent proxies. Geology. 38(7): 603-606. DOI: 10.1130/G30815.1 Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • Rybczynski, N., M.R. Dawson & R.H. Tedford. 2009. A semi-aquatic Arctic mammalian carnivore from the Miocene Epoch and origin of Pinnipedia. Nature 458: 1021-1024. DOI: 10.1038/nature07985. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • Murray, A.M., S.L. Cumbaa, C.R. Harington, G.R. Smith & N. Rybczynski. 2009. Early Pliocene fish remains from Arctic Canada support a pre-Pleistocene dispersal of percids (Teleostei: Perciformes). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 46: 557-570. DOI: 10.1139/E09-037. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N. 2008. Woodcutting behavior in beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia): estimating ecological performance in a modern and a fossil taxon. Palaeobiology 34(3): 389-402. DOI: 10.1666/06085.1 Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N., A. Tirabasso, R. Cuthbertson (M.Sc. Student) & 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. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: Yes.

  • Vavrek, M.J., H.C.E. Larsson & N. Rybczynski. 2007. A late Triassic flora from east-central Axel-Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 44: 1653-1659.  DOI: 10.1139/e07-042. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N. 2007. Castorid phylogenetics: Implications for the evolution of swimming and tree exploitation in beavers. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 14: 1-35. DOI: 10.1007/s10914-006-9017-3. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Ballantyne, A.P., N. Rybczynski, P. Baker, C.R. Harington & D. White. 2006. Pliocene Arctic temperature constraints from the growth rings and isotopic composition of fossil larch wood. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 242 (3,4): 188-200. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.05.016. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N. 2004. Optimized for chewing. Science 306: 2045. DOI: 10.1126/science.1105167. Refereed?: No

  • Korth, W.W. & N. Rybczynski. 2003. A new unusual castorid (Rodentia) from the earliest Miocene of Nebraska. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(3): 667–675. DOI: 10.1671/2371. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N. & R.R. Reisz. 2001. Earliest evidence for efficient oral processing in a terrestrial herbivore. Nature 411: 684-687. DOI: 10.1038/35079567. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N. 2000. Cranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the basal anomodont (Therapsida), Suminia getmanovi. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 130 (3): 329-373. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb01634.x . Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Gifford-Gonzalez, D., K.M. Stewart & N. Rybczynski. 1999. Human Activities and site formation at modern lake margin foraging camps in Kenya. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18: 397-440. DOI: 10.1006/jaar.1999.0337. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No

  • Stewart, K.M., D.P. Gifford-Gonzalez & N. Rybczynski. 1997. Characteristics of modern foraging camps and their faunas from Lake Turkana, Kenya. Anthropozoologica 25-26: 763-766. Link: az1998n25-26a89.pdf Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

  • Rybczynski, N., D. Gifford-Gonzalez and K.M. Stewart. 1996. The ethnoarchaeology of reptile remains at a Lake Turkana occupation site, Kenya. Journal of Archaeological Science 23: 863-867. DOI: 10.1006/jasc.1996.0080. Refereed?: Yes, Open Access?: No.

 

FLB camp 2019.JPG

    © 2025 by Natalia Rybczynski.

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