Fabiany Herrera Tolosa

Associate Curator of Paleobotany

Negaunee Integrative Research Center
Staff - current
Pronouns:He/Him/His

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:
  1. The evolutionary origin of the tropical rainforests and flowering plant lineages. 
  2. The study of Mesozoic plants to improve understanding of the timing of events in seed plant evolution.
  3. Paleobiogeographic and paleoclimatic history of the Cenozoic.  
  4. Integrated paleobotanical and neobotanical studies of plant diversity and evolution.

Contact

fherrera@fieldmuseum.org

Administrative Areas

Learning Resources

  • 2025 Corporate Members

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  • 2025 Summer Camps Opportunities

    A convenient guide with camps for all ages and dates.

  • 3D Model: Cryolophosaurus Skull | Dinosaur Toolkit

    Use this 3D model to see how scientists reconstruct animals like Cryolophosaurus from the fossil record.

    Interactive or App|Grades PK-12

  • 3D Model: Glacialisaurus Foot | Dinosaur Toolkit

    Learn how the first giant dinosaurs like Glacialisaurus moved by exploring this 3D model.

    Interactive or App|Grades PK-12

  • 3D Model: Tyrannosaurus rex | Dinosaur Toolkit

    Interact with this 3D model to find out what we can learn about SUE the T. rex's life by looking at its fossils, then test your knowledge

    Interactive or App|Grades PK-12

  • AAHM Scavenger Hunt-Arabic

  • AAHM Scavenger Hunt-English

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  • AANHPI Scavenger Hunt-English

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  • A Celebration of Souls Fact Sheet

  • A Celebration of Souls Tour Schedule

  • A Conversation about Land Acknowledgments

    Hear from Native speakers and experts as they discuss the custom of land acknowledgments, their importance, and other actions you can take.

    • Advantages of Levers | Biomechanics Toolkit

      Test basic lever types and explore the trade-off between a force advantage and speed advantage in the animal world.

      Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8

    • Adventures in the Herbarium: Museums and Medicines

      The importance and impact of Field Museum’s African flowering plant specimens are highlighted in two podcasts. These podcasts were written, recorded, and edited by two college interns who worked alongside experts and collections specimens.  Museums and Medicines highlights the impact plant specimens have had on human health and why their conservation is so important.

      Activity|Grades 3-12

    • Adventures in the Herbarium: Pixels and Petals

      The importance and impact of Field Museum’s African flowering plant specimens are highlighted in two podcasts. These podcasts were written, recorded, and edited by two college interns who worked alongside experts and collections specimens.  Pixels and Petals highlights the digital imaging process and the impact of herbarium specimens.

      Grades PK-12

    • Animal Observations | Science Hub at Home

      Learn how scientists observe and track animal behavior and how you can do the same with your pets at home.

      Activity|Grades 3-8

    • Animal Survival Unit | Early Elementary Science Partnership

      Act as consultants to the City of Chicago and assess their relocation plan for urban coyotes.

      Lesson Plan|Grades PK-5

    • Antarctic Dinosaurs Exhibition Overview

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    • Apsáalooke Women and Warriors Exhibition Overview

    • Apsáalooke Women and Warriors Exhibition Walkthrough

      • Apsáalooke Women and Warriors Fact Sheet

      • Apsáalooke Women and Warriors Tour Schedule

      • Archaeological Footprint | China Toolkit

        Analyze how we learn about history through objects and theorize what gaps can exist in object-based stories.

        Lesson Plan|Grades 6-12

      • Artifact Observation Guide

        Encourage close examination of a single artifact—an object produced by humans—using observations and inferences.

        Activity|Grades 3-12

      • A Selection of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates of Illinois, USA

      • Ask an Artifact | China Toolkit

        Discover what you can learn from the objects all around us when you look carefully and apply a specific disciplinary lens. Spanish subtitles available.

        Video|Grades 3-12

      • At-Home Activities

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        • At Home Collections | Science Hub at Home

          Create your own museum collection at home.

          Activity|Grades 3-8

        • Basket Making Demonstration with Lorene Sisquoc

          Watch Lorene Sisquoc teaching and weaving a basket at the Field Museum opening of Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories.

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        • Basket Making Discussion & Demo: Lorene Sisquoc and Kelly Church

          Listen to and watch Lorene Sisquoc and Kelly Church discuss basket weaving and oral traditions.

          Video|Grades PK-12

        • Beginner's Field Guide: Fall in Chicagoland

          With this guide, get to know the plants and animals that share your Chicagoland neighborhood during the fall. Birds migrate south, animals prepare for the cold, and leaves put on a colorful show.

          Family-Friendly Lesson|Activity|

        • Beginner's Field Guide: Spring in Chicagoland

          Get to know the plants and animals that you'll see in Chicago in the springtime. 

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        • Being Big on Land

          Learn why being big isn’t always an advantage and find out how mythic creatures like Godzilla and King Kong could never have carried their own weight.

          Video|Grades 3-12

        • Bergmann's Rule | Biomechanics Toolkit

          Uncover how an animal’s size affects its ability to regulate temperature.

          Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8

        • Beverage Packages

        • Biodiversity and Ecosystems

          Middle school-aged students will investigate the differences between native and invasive plants and demonstrate their learning by creating a model of a native plant garden.

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        • BIOlympics Game | Biomechanics Toolkit

          Jump into BIOlympics events to see how animals achieve amazing feats. Use that knowledge to choose competitors for different events.

          Game|Grades 6-8

        • Biomechanics Exhibition Overview

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        • Bird Calls and Songs | PlayLab at Home

          Listen to different songs or calls made by local Illinois birds.

          Activity|Grades PK-2

        • Birding 101 | Science Hub at Home

          Discover the birds of Chicago with these birding techniques.

          Activity|Grades 3-8

        • Birds are shrinking as the climate warms

          Forty years of data show that migratory birds have been getting smaller. Long-term studies like this one, published in Ecology Letters, are key to identifying trends caused by environmental changes.

          • Búsqueda del Tesoro español

          • Calumet Heritage Area

            Learn about the collaborative effort to protect the Calumet region, one of the most diverse places in America.

            • Chef Jessica Pamonicutt Discusses Cooking and Fry Bread

              Listen to and watch Chef Jessica discuss her career as a chef and fry bread.

              Video|Grades PK-12

            • Chicago Community Climate Partnership

              Join Chicagoans who are taking action on climate change right here in our city.

              • Chicago Wilderness

                Connect with an alliance of conservation leaders working toward a green vision for the Chicago region.

                • Colors in the Rice Native Gardens Field Guide

                  The Field Museum invites you to awaken your senses as you venture through the Field Museum’s Rice Native Gardens and experience the beautiful colors of the natural world.

                • Common Butterflies of the Chicago Region Field Guide

                  This guide will help identify some of the many species of butterflies found in the Chicagoland area.

                • Common Wild Bees of Illinois Field Guide

                  Use this guide to help identify less recognizable bee species common in Illinois.

                • Corporate Membership Program

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                • Creating Monarch Habitat in your Midwestern Garden

                  This guide shows how adding native plants to your garden, balcony or community can help reverse the decline of the monarch butterfly.

                • Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery Exhibition Overview

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                • Death: Life's Greatest Mystery TE Walkthrough

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                • Deforestation is stressing mammals out

                  Higher levels of stress hormones are found in rodents and marsupials in deforested patches of South America's Atlantic Forest, in a paper published in Scientific Reports. The destruction of an animal’s habitat can drastically change its life, with less food and territory to go around.

                  • Dia de los Muertos 2022

                  • Dinopalooza Flyer

                  • Dinosaur Family Tree | Dinosaur Toolkit

                    Examine dinosaur physical traits to identify similarities and differences in their features and construct a system of classification.

                    Lesson Plan|Grades 3-5

                  • Discovery Adventures

                    This free online series takes viewers on an interactive, educator-led adventure around the Field. Tune in live every Tuesday, or catch the recordings any time.

                    • Diversity of Life | Exploring the Field Guide

                      Observe animal dioramas to compare and contrast organisms and explore the diversity of life.

                      Activity|Grades PK-2

                    • Dome Strength | Biomechanics Toolkit

                      Discover how much force a seemingly brittle object like an egg can withstand when it’s dome-shaped.

                      Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8

                    • Dozin' with the Dinos 2024 Info Packet

                      Families and group leaders, prepare for your night at the museum with this guide.

                    • Dozin' with the Dinos 2025 Info Packet

                    • Dozin' with the Dinos on NBC5

                    • English Scavenger Hunt

                    • Everything Has a Purpose | Exploring the Field Guide

                      Examine why plants and birds have certain features to uncover the relationship between structure and function.

                      Activity|Grades 3-5

                    • Evidence in the Unwritten | China Toolkit

                      Investigate the role of an archaeologist and discover the types of questions that drive their work. Spanish subtitles available.

                      Video|Grades 6-12

                    • Exhibition Investigation Guide

                      Investigate a museum exhibition using the claim, evidence, reasoning cycle.

                      Activity|Grades 3-12

                    • Exploring Artifacts from the Pacific | Exploring the Field Guide

                      Observe and analyze artifacts from the Pacific Islands to develop evidence-based claims about how these cultures view the world.

                      Activity|Grades 9-12

                    • Exploring Language | China Toolkit

                      Explore the history of writing in China by drawing conclusions about the impact of the written word on human civilizations and how language changes over time.

                      Lesson Plan|Grades 6-12

                    • Exploring Objects | China Toolkit

                      Analyze objects using varied lenses, including anthropology, history, economics, geography, and art history.

                      Lesson Plan|Grades 3-12

                    • Field Explorers Summer Camps FAQ

                      Get all your questions answered about our Summer Camps

                    • Field Explorers Virtual Camp FAQ

                      Find information about camp activities, schedules, registration, and more.

                    • Field Family Nights 2023 Info Packet

                      Prepare for your family night with this guide.

                    • Field Family Nights 2024 Info Packet

                      Prepare for your family night with this guide.

                    • Field Guides

                      Browse more than 1,000 plant and animal ID guides for over 40 countries.

                      • First Kings of Europe Fact Sheet

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                      • Fish diversity and forest health

                        Scientists investigated fish populations in Guyana, which helped to show why aquatic corridors matter in conservation. Their study, published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, makes an important case that protecting one tiny corner of the Guiana Shield can help protect biodiversity across the Amazon.

                        • Forces Design Challenge | Biomechanics Toolkit

                          Use animal structure and function to design a way that humans can reduce the force felt and/or energy absorbed by an object.

                          Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8

                        • Furiously Fast Falcons | Science Hub at Home

                          Figure out how fast you can run and how that compares to some of the fastest and slowest animals on the planet.

                          Activity|Grades 3-8

                        • Giants from the Past | Dinosaur Toolkit

                          Analyze and interpret data about sauropods and build a nonfiction narrative about how this group of dinosaurs evolved over millions of years.

                          Lesson Plan|Grades 6-8

                        • Giraffe Heart Dissection | Biomechanics Toolkit

                          Go behind the scenes in our mammals wet lab to watch the dissection of a giraffe heart.

                          Video|Grades 6-8

                        • Group Leader Planning Packet

                          Get the details for your group as they explore the museum.

                        • GWC Audio Tour Transcripts

                        • Herbarium Sheets | PlayLab at Home

                          Learn about scientists who study plants and create your own herbarium sheet.

                          Activity|Grades PK-2

                        • Hominid Adaptations | Exploring the Field Guide

                          Investigate fossil remains of hominids to learn how humans and our relatives evolved over time.

                          Activity|Grades 6-8

                        • Illinois Beginner’s Field Guide Winter in Chicago

                        • Impact of climate on rainforest biodiversity

                          A study in Biotropica examined data on small mammals in South America. It found something surprising: that climate may affect biodiversity in rainforests even more than deforestation does.

                          • Investigating the Qingming Scroll | China Toolkit

                            Learn about the contradictions depicted in the Qingming Scroll and compare it with present-day representations of idealized societies.

                            Lesson Plan|Grades 6-12

                          • In Your Backyard | Science Hub at Home

                            Track down reptiles and amphibians by exploring your own natural spaces.

                            Activity|Grades 3-8

                          • Island Evolution

                            Discover why islands contain so many unique species.

                            Video|Grades 6-12

                          • Jason Wesaw Speaks About his Art

                            Listen to and watch Native Truths artist Jason Wesaw, a member of the Potawatomi Nation. His art practice spans many mediums including ceramics, textiles and works on paper.

                            Video|Grades PK-12