Research Interests

As a paleontologist, my interests relate to the history of sedimentary basins and the fossils within the rocks.

Currently, I am conducting research on vertebrate fossil tracks in Bolivia and Spain.

In Bolivia, I am studying several tracksites within the Torotoro National Park and in other sites in the country. I coordinate a multidisciplinary and multinational research group of sedimentologists, paleontologists and geologists.

In Spain, I am studying vertebrate tracks in sedimentary rocks of the Triassic in Valencia Province.

From 1999 to 2020 I studied the sedimentary layers of the Pisco Basin in southern Peru where a thick succession of strata was deposited in a mostly shallow marine environment. There, I had several lines of research:

• Many of the layers contain well-preserved fossils of marine mammals (baleen whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions), sharks, fish, and invertebrates. I studied the fossilization processes that led to the preservation of the fossils.
• The marine mammal fossils are very abundant. It is the largest known accumulation of fossil marine mammals in the world. One of my goals was to explain why so many specimens died, were buried and became preserved in the rocks.
• I studied the lithology, and stratigraphy of the succession of layers to understand the sequence of events and processes that led to the accumulation of the sediments in the ancient marine environment.
• I paid special attention to the ichnofossils (trace fossils) in the layers, as they provide important insights into the ancient marine environment conditions.

Research Keywords

Paleontology, Taphonomy, Fossilization, Ichnology, Stratigraphy, El Molino Formation, Pisco Formation, Pisco Basin, Torotoro National Park, Vertebrate Fossil Tracks, Dinosaur Trackways, Fossil Marine Mammals, Fossil Cetaceans, Whale Fossils, Baleen 

Education

PhD in Paleontology: Loma Linda University, California

Bachelors in Biology: Universidad de Valencia, Spain

Articles

Méndez Torrez, G., Lovera Cruz, L., Céspedes-Llave, A.Á., Esperante, R., Gutiérrez Berrios, C., Apesteguía, S., 2023. First Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous dinosaur footprints for Bolivia at the Castellón Formation (Tacurú Group), Tarija. Historical Biology, 1-20. Doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2235373

Esperante, R., Rocha-Rodríguez, G., McLarty, J.A., Biaggi, R.E., Nick, K.E., Baltazar, H.D., Varquera, A.C., 2023. Diversity of dinosaur tracks and swim traces in a new site in the Upper Cretaceous El Molino formation, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 128, 104480.

Esperante, R., Tovar, Francisco J., Nalin, R. 2021. Rhizoliths in Lower Pliocene alluvial fan deposits of the Sorbas Basin (Almería, SE Spain), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 567:110281.

Ayala Choque, J. M., Esperante, R. 2020. La religión, ¿ha sido dañina para la humanidad? Una respuesta a los argumentos del nuevo ateísmo. Enfoques 32(1):87-134.

Ayala Choque, J. M., Esperante, R. 2019. ¿Están en conflicto la ciencia y la fe? Depende de lo que se entienda por ‘conflicto’. Cuadernos de Teología-Universidad Católica del Norte 11:e3830, doi: 10.22199/issn.0719-8175-2019-0007.

Esperante, R., and O. Poma. (2015). Taphonomy and palaeopathology of two mysticete whales, upper Miocene Pisco Formation, Peru. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology 30(1):1-14.

Esperante, R., Brand, L. R., Chadwick, A. V., & Poma, O. (2014). Taphonomy and paleoenvironmental conditions of deposition of fossil whales in the diatomaceous sediments of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, southern Peru—A new fossil-lagerstätte. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 417, 337-370. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.09.029

Muñiz, F., Esperante, R., Poma, O., 2011. La icnoespecie Gyrolithes vidali Mayoral 1986 en el Mioceno superior de la formación Pisco (Ica, Perú): Implicaciones paleoambientales. Paleontologia i Evolució Memòria Especial 5, 263-267.

Brand, L., Urbina, M., Chadwick, A., DeVries, T., Esperante, R. 2011. A high-resolution stratigraphic framework for the remarkable fossil cetacean assemblage of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 31: 414-425.

Esperante, R., Muñiz Guinea, F., Nick, K.E., 2009. Taphonomy of a Mysticeti whale in the Lower Pliocene Huelva Sands Formation (Southern Spain). Geologica Acta 7, 489-505.

Esperante, R., Brand, L., Nick, K.E., Poma, O., Urbina, M., 2008. Exceptional occurrence of fossil baleen in shallow marine sediments of the Neogene Pisco Formation, southern Peru. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257, 344-360.

Abstracts and Communications in Scientific Meetings

Esperante, R. A theropod swim trace in the Santisol dinosaur trascksite (lower Cretaceous), La Rioja, Spain. XXXVII Jornadas de Paleontología, Cuenca, Spain, 70

Esperante, R., Clawson, R. E., McLarty, J. A., Alves, J. A., Baltazar Medina, H. D., Chátary, W. A. 2022. Theropod swim traces in the Upper Cretaceous El Molino Formation, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. XXXVII Jornadas de Paleontología, Cuenca, Spain, 71.

McLarty, J. A., Esperante, R. 2022. High-quality panoramas and photo stitches for documenting dinosaur trackways and tracksites. . 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Esperante, R., Rocha-Rodríguez, G., McLarty, J. A., Baltazar Medina, H. D. 2022. A new coastal sauropod-theropod tracksite in the Upper Cretaceous El Molino Formation, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Esperante, R., McLarty, J. A., Baltazar Medina, H. D. 2022. Theropod tracks formed during kick-off phase of the interaction between foot and substrate. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Esperante, R. Baltazar Medina, H. D., Chátary, W. A., McLarty, J. A. 2022. Avian tracks preserved in the Upper Cretaceous El Molino Formation, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Esperante, R., McLarty, J. A., Clawson. Roger E., Baltazar Medina, Helen D., Chátary, W. A., Alves, Everton, F., Saavedra, W. Q., Lozano, E. L. 2022. Abundance, diversity and taphonomy of theropod tracks in the Carreras Pampa tracksite, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Biaggi, Roberto E., Leggiti, V. Leroy, Limachi, A., Baltazar, H., Awramik, S., Esperante, R. 2022. Stromatolites from the El Molino Fm (K-Pg), Torotoro National Park, Bolivia. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Clawson, R., Esperante, R. McLarty, J. A. 2022. Ornithopod tail-drag traces in the Clayton Lake State Park, New Mexico. 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Khon Kaen, Thailand, 7-11 November.

Esperante, R., Limachi, A. B., Poma, O. 2021. Shell-bone beds in the Middle Miocene transgressive succession of the Pisco Formation, Peru, 35th IAS Meeting on Sedimentology, Prague, 21-25 June.

Figueroa, F., Esperante, R., Poma, O. 2019. Ichnological and sedimentological characterization of a regressive-transgressive sequence boundary in the Middle Miocene Pisco Formation, southern Peru. 34th IAS Meeting of Sedimentology, Rome, 10-13 September.

Esperante, R., Ayala, J., Quiroga, W., Geisse, B. 2018. A new theropod footprint site in the Upper Cretaceous El Molino Formation, Torotoro National Park, Bolivia, 5th International Paleontological Congress, Paris, 9-13 July, p. 1040.

Esperante, R., Geisse, B., Ospino, M. Poma, O. 2018. Distribution and taphonomic characteristics of marine mammals in Cerro Hueco La Zorra, Miocene, Pisco Formation, Peru, p. 484.

Poma, O., Esperante, R., Geisse, B., Ospino, M., Echevarría, M., Zegarra, Z. 2018. Preservation of marine mammals in pebble conglomerates, Miocene Pisco Formation, Peru. 5th International Paleontological Congress, Paris, 9-13 July, p. 1064.

Esperante, R., Poma, O. 2017. Marine mammal preservation in a siliciclastic transgressive succession, Middle Miocene Pisco Formation, Perú. Taphos 2017, September 14-17, 2017, Vienna, Austria.

Figueroa, F. A., Esperante, R. 2015. Ichnological characterization of the initial stages of the basin-wide transgression of the Pisco Formation (middle Miocene-lower Pliocene), Peru. Abstracts 31st Meeting of Sedimentology, Krakow, Poland, 22-25 July, p. 177.

Vasquez, O., Esperante, R. 2015. Sedimentary facies of a transgressive sequence in the Pisco Formation (middle Miocene-lower Pliocene), Peru, Peru. Abstracts 31st Meeting of Sedimentology, Krakow, Poland, 22-25 July, p. 554.

Poma, O., Esperante, R. 2014. Evidence of extreme events (tsunami?) in the Chilcatay Formation, Pisco Basin. 4th International Palaeontological Congress, 29 Sept - 3 Oct 2014, Mendoza, Argentina, p. 782.

Esperante, R. 2014. Present-time whale carcasses vs. whale fossils: the present is not the key to the past. 4th International Palaeontological Congress, 29 Sept - 3 Oct 2014, Mendoza, Argentina, p. 167.

Esperante, R. DeVries, Th., Poma, O. 2014. Ichnological, paleontological, and sedimentological signatures of a basin-wide transgression, middle Miocene Pisco Formation, Peru. 4th International Palaeontological Congress, 29 Sept - 3 Oct 2014, Mendoza, Argentina, p. 519.

Belia, E. R., Esperante, R. 2011 Unusual skeletal arrangement of a Mysticeti fossil whale in the Pisco Formation, Peru. Abstracts with Program, Taphos 2011, 14-17 June 2011, Tubingen, Germany, p 15-16.

Muñiz, F., Esperante, R. 2011. Evidence of a reef stage associated with a whale skeleton in the Lower Pliocene of Huelva, SW Spain. Abstracts with Program, Taphos 2011, 14-17 June 2011, Tubingen, Germany, p 54-55.

Esperante, R., Muñiz Guinea, F., Poma, O. 2011. Taphonomy of a Mysticeti whale with a fracture-healed rib, Miocene Pisco Formation, southern Peru. Abstracts with Program, Taphos 2011, 14-17 June 2011, Tubingen, Germany, p. 32.

Muñiz, F., Esperante, R., Poma, O. 2011. La ichnoespecie Gyrolithes vidalii Mayoral 1986 en el Mioceno Superior de la Formación Pisco (Ica, Perú). Implicaciones paleoambientales. Abstracts of XXVII Jornadas Sociedad Española de Paleontología, Sabadell, Spain, 5-8 October de 2011.

Cooper, J. N., Esperante, R., Nick, K. E. 2009. The quantification of bioerosion in fossil cetaceans of the Pisco Formation, Peru. GSA Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs vol. 41 (7): 628.

Esperante, R., Muñiz, F. 2008. Bioerosion structures on Pliocene whale bones and their ethological classification. P. 38. In A. Uchman, ed. The Second International Congress on Ichnology. Polish Geological Society, Cracow, Poland.

Muñiz, F., R. Esperante, J. M. d. Gibert, E. Mayoral, A. Santos, Berbel, J. 2007. Bioerosión de anélidos osteófagos (Siboglinidae) en el Plioceno Inferior de Almería (SE de España) Pp. 159-160. In J. C. Braga, A. Checa, and M. Company, eds. XXIII Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología. Instituto Geológico y Minero, Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia.

Esperante, R., Brand. L. R. 2007. How slow is sedimentation in shallow marine environments? Insights from fossil whales of the Pisco Formation, Peru. In: J.C. Braga, A. Checa and M. Company (Editors), XXIII Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Caravaca de la Cruz, pp. 46-47.

Esperante, R., 2006. Exceptional occurrence of fossil baleen in the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru, Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pp. 64.

Brand, L., Urbina, M., Carvajal, C., DeVries, T. Esperante, R. 2006. A contribution to the stratigraphy of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26, Supplement (3): 45.

Esperante, R., 2005. How not to become a fossil --Taphonomy of modern whale falls. In: J. Martinell, R. Domènech and J.M. de Gibert (Editors), 2nd International Meeting TAPHOS'05. Universitat de Barcelona, pp. 103-104.

Esperante, R. y Brand, L., 2003. Higher diatom deposition implied from taphonomic features of fossil marine mammals, Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru, AGU Chapman Conference “The role of diatom production and Si flux and burial in the regulation of global cycles.” AGU, Paroikia, Paros, Greece, pp. 55-56.

Esperante, R., Brand, L.R. 2002. Preservation of baleen whales in tuffaceous and diatomaceous deposits of the Pisco Fm, southern Peru. In: G.A. Brock and J.A. Talent (Editors), First International Palaeontological Congress (IPC2002). Geological Society of Australia, Sydney, Australia, pp. 51.

Esperante, R., Brand, L.R., Chadwick, A., Poma, O. 2002. Taphonomy of fossil whales in the diatomaceous sediments of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru. In: M. De Renzi et al. (Editors), Current Topics on Taphonomy. Ayuntamiento de Valencia, Valencia, pp. 337-343.

Esperante, R., 2002. Preservation of baleen whales in southern Peru. Geoscience Reports (34): 1-3.

Esperante-Caamano, R., Brand, L., Chadwick, A. V., Delucchi, F., Brand, L. 2000. Fossil whales of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru; stratigraphy, distribution, and taphonomy. P. 499. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Reno, Nevada.

Esperante-Caamano, R., Brand, L. R., Chadwick, A. V., Poma, O. 1999. Taphonomy of whales in the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, western Peru. P. 466. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado.