María Euridice Páramo Fonseca (born 1953 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

, Colombia) is a Colombian

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

.Los reptiles de María Páramo
-

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editi ...

She has contributed on the paleontology in Colombia in the fields of describing various Cretaceous reptiles, most notably the

mosasaur Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Ancient Greek, Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Ma ...

s ''

Eonatator ''Eonatator'' is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is a close relative of ''Halisaurus'', and part of the same subfamily, the Halisaurinae. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of North America, Colombia and ...

'' and ''

Yaguarasaurus ''Yaguarasaurus'' is an extinct genus of mosasauroid from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) period of Colombia, South America. The remains discovered (an articulated skull, some vertebrae and ribs) were defined as a new genus and species of mosas ...

'', the

ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, altho ...

s '' Kyhytysuka'' and ''

Stenorhynchosaurus ''Stenorhynchosaurus'' is an extinct genus of pliosaurid plesiosaurs which lived in the Early Cretaceous of South America. The type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the na ...

'' and the plesiosaur '' Leivanectes''.

Biography

In 1991, Páramo obtained her MSc. degree from the

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, C ...

with a thesis titled ''Posición Sistemática de un reptil marino con base en los restos fósiles encontrados en capas del Cretácico Superior en Yaguará, Huila'' and her PhD degree in 1997 from the

Université de Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

with a thesis ''Les Vertébrés marins du Turonien de la Vallée Supérieure du Magdalena, Colombie, Systématique, Paléoécologie et Paléobiogéographie''.Curriculum Vitae María Páramo
/ref> With "Mention d’honneur avec félicitations" for doctoral thesis. María Páramo lectures and conducts research in the Department of Geosciences at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in

since 2006.Curriculum Vitae María Páramo
-

Páramo has helped establish a foundation for the preservation and rescue of fossils in the region of Colombia, along with other researchers and contributors. Páramo, together with fellow paleontologist Fernando Etayo, collaborated in describing the first

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossil found in Colombia, '' Padillasaurus leivaensis'' from the

Paja Formation Paja may refer to: * Paja, Iran, a village in Sari County * Paja (given name), a Serbian masculine name * Paja (surname) * Paja Formation, geologic formation in Colombia * Paja Brava :''Paja Brava is also used in Spanish speaking countries to ref ...

, close to

Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNES ...

, Boyacá.Este es el ''Padillasaurus'', el primer dinosaurio colombiano
- El Tiempo Other species described by Páramo are the

'' Eonatator coellensis'' from Coello, Tolima,Páramo, 2013 the

pliosaur Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive t ...

'' Stenorhynchosaurus munozi'',Páramo et al., 2016 and

'' Platypterigius sachicarum'' from the Paja Formation,Páramo, 1998 '' Platypterygius'' appendicular remains from Northern tip of South America, fossil fish species '' Bachea huilensis'' from the

Villeta Group The Villeta Group ( es, Grupo Villeta) is a geological group of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, to the west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The group, a sequence of shales, limestones and sandstones, is subdivided into various formatio ...

,Páramo, 1997 and

Gomphotheres Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during ...

from

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...

beds close to Cartagena.Páramo & Escobar, 2010 One of the most complete discoveries in South America, the mosasaur '' Yaguarasaurus columbianus'' from the

La Frontera Formation The La Frontera Formation ( es, Formación La Frontera, K2F, Ksf) is a geological formation, part of the Villeta Group, of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and neighbouring areas of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of limeston ...

, Huila,Páramo, 2000 is mainly found in South America, but has been identified globally. Along with Fonsesca, in 2000, collected the tooth of

genus found in layers of the Turoniense of the Villeta Formation from "Mosasauroids from Colombia." Páramo has published in Spanish, French and English.

Works

This list is a selection.

Articles

* 2019 - ''A new late Aptian elasmosaurid from the Paja Formation, Villa de Leiva, Colombia''Páramo Fonseca et al., 2019 * 2018 - ''Appendicular remains of an ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the lower Barremian of Villa de Leiva, Colombia''Páramo, 2018 * 2016 - ''Stenorhynchosaurus munozi, gen. et sp. nov. a new pliosaurid from the Upper Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Villa de Leiva, Colombia, South America'' * 2013 - ''Eonatator coellensis nov. sp. (Squamata: Mosasauridae), a new species from the Upper Cretaceous of Colombia'' * 2012 - ''Mosasauroids from Colombia'' * 2007 - ''The first Late Pleistocene record of Kinosternon (Cryptodira:Kinosternidae) turtles for Northern South America, Pubenza locality, Colombia'' * 2001 - ''Los peces de la familia Pachyrhizodontidae (Teleostei) del Turoniano del Valle Superior del Magdalena, Colombia, dos nuevas especies'' * 2000 - ''Yaguarasaurus columbianus (Reptilia, Mosasauridae), a primitive mosasaur from the Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) of Colombia'' * 1998 - ''Platypterigius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichtyosauria), nueva especie del Cretácico de Colombia'' * 1997 - ''Bachea huilensis nov. gen., nov. sp., premier Tselfatioidei (Teleostei) de Colombie''

References

Notable works by Páramo

* * * * * * * * * *

External links