UNM Newsroom / News / UNM Honors College professor leads 2025 expedition to Paraguay to study fossilization in real time

Close-up of the skull

Close-up of the skull

of the mired caiman Caiman yacare from General Diaz.

The main channel of the

The main channel of the

Pilcomayo River near Pozo Hondo Paraguay.

The UNM and UNA field crew

The UNM and UNA field crew

at their field camp in the Paraguayan Navy base in Pozo Hondo.

A Caiman yacare skeleton

A Caiman yacare skeleton

mired in a muddy avulsion deposit near General Diaz.

UNM and GRPM scientists screen sediment

UNM and GRPM scientists screen sediment

from the Pilcomayo River near General Diaz in search of microvertebrate remains from vertebrate skeletons less than 5mm in size.

A capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

A capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

in the brush near General Diaz.

A young greater

A young greater

Rhea Americana near General Diaz.

Pampas fox Lycalopex gymnocerca

Pampas fox Lycalopex gymnocerca

near Pozo Hondo.

UNM and UNA scientists record

UNM and UNA scientists record

ecological data from a modern trackway.

UNM scientists describe the condition

UNM scientists describe the condition

and modification of bones from a cow skeleton that died and was preserved in an ephemeral pond near Pozo Hondo Paraguay.

UNM Honors College professor leads 2025 expedition to Paraguay to study fossilization in real time

'Future Fossils on Fans' project offers students rare fieldwork opportunity and global collaboration experience

By Dani Rae Wascher June 20, 2025

Categories: College of Arts & Sciences Earth & Planetary Sciences Honors College Latest News Research Front Page Undergraduate Research, Arts & Design Network

Tags: Future Fossils on Fans UNM Honors College UNM Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences URAD

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