M. Paul Smith
Encyclopedia
M. Paul Smith is a British
palaeontologist, Professor of Palaeobiology
at the University of Birmingham
. He is head of the University's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Director of its Lapworth Museum of Geology
. He received his BSc from the University of Leicester
and his PhD from the University of Nottingham
.
Smith's research primarily has focused on the conodont
palaeobiology and the early Palaeozoic radiation of vertebrates. He is known for discovering that conodont teeth were made of bone cells, such as are found only in vertebrates. This dated the origin of the vertebrates to 515 million years before the present, 40 million years earlier than had been previously thought.
He is Chair of the Publications Board of The Palaeontological Association
, and joint editor of the Systematics Association special volume, Donoghue, Philip C. J., and M. Paul Smith. Telling the Evolutionary Time: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2004. ISBN 9780415275248.
Select peer-reviewed journal articles
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
palaeontologist, Professor of Palaeobiology
Paleobiology
Paleobiology is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology...
at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
. He is head of the University's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Director of its Lapworth Museum of Geology
Lapworth Museum of Geology
The Lapworth Museum of Geology is a major geological museum run by the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England.The museum is located within the Grade II listed, Aston Webb Building, which retains the original Edwardian features. The museum has a history which dates back 1880...
. He received his BSc from the University of Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
and his PhD from the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
.
Smith's research primarily has focused on the conodont
Conodont
Conodonts are extinct chordates resembling eels, classified in the class Conodonta. For many years, they were known only from tooth-like microfossils now called conodont elements, found in isolation. Knowledge about soft tissues remains relatively sparse to this day...
palaeobiology and the early Palaeozoic radiation of vertebrates. He is known for discovering that conodont teeth were made of bone cells, such as are found only in vertebrates. This dated the origin of the vertebrates to 515 million years before the present, 40 million years earlier than had been previously thought.
He is Chair of the Publications Board of The Palaeontological Association
Palaeontological Association
The Palaeontological Association is a charitable organisation based in the UK founded in 1957 for the promotion of the study of palaeontology.-Functions:...
, and joint editor of the Systematics Association special volume, Donoghue, Philip C. J., and M. Paul Smith. Telling the Evolutionary Time: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2004. ISBN 9780415275248.
Publications
Books- Philip C. J. Donoghue, M. Paul Smith. Telling the evolutionary time: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record. CRC Press, 2004.
- A. K. Higgins, Jane A. Gilotti, M. Paul Smith. The Greenland Caledonides: Evolution of the Northeast Margin of Laurentia, Geological Society of America, 2008.
Select peer-reviewed journal articles
- Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P., Armstrong, H. A. and Smith, M. M. 1992. "Presence of the earliest vertebrate hard tissues in conodonts." Science 256: 1308-1311. Cited 60 times according to Scopus.
- Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P. and Smith, M. M. 1994. "Dentine in conodonts." Nature 368: 591. Cited 30 times in ScopusScopusScopus, officially named SciVerse Scopus, is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles. It covers nearly 18,000 titles from over 5,000 international publishers, including coverage of 16,500 peer-reviewed journals in the scientific, technical, medical,...
. - Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P. and Smith, M. M. 1996. "Scales of thelodont and shark-like fishes from the Ordovician." Nature 379: 628-630.Cited 543 times according to Scopus/
- Smith, M. P., Sansom, I. J. and Repetski, J. E. 1996. "Histology of the first fish." Nature 380: 702-704. Cited 26 times according to Scopus 729-730.
- Thomas, A.T., Smith, M.P. 1998 "Terebellid polychaete burrows from the lower Palaeozoic" Palaeontology 41 (2), pp. 317–333 Cited 7 times according to Scopus
- Donoghue, P.C.J., Smith, M.P. 2001 "The anatomy of Turinia pagei (Powrie), and the phylogenetic status of the Thelodonti" Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 92 (1), pp. 15–37. Cited 35 times according to Scopus