Agustin Scanferla

I grew up in a city surrounded by rich fossiliferous Pleistocene outcrops near to Buenos Aires, so my passion for paleontology goes back to my childhood time. In fact, I started to work in La Plata Museum at 12 working on technical lab, and I have been passionate about Cretaceous fossil reptiles since my first discovery in Patagonia 20 years ago.

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Ph.D. in Natural Sciences from the University of La Plata. My primary paleontological interests lie in the evolution of snakes. After my move to NW Argentina, a region with beautiful exposures of Cretaceous and Paleogene bedrocks, I've also developed interests in other vertebrates.

I am currently a researcher in the CONICET Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino (IBIGEO), based near Salta in Northwest Argentina. I have led and participated in numerous expeditions across Argentina and neighbouring countries and have authored over 25 publications on topics from Cretaceous dinosaurs to ancient DNA of recently extinct relatives of armadillos.

December 2016