Richard J. Butler
Richard James Butler is a vertebrate palaeontologist at the University of Birmingham, where he holds the title of professor of palaeobiology.[1] His research focuses on ornithischian dinosaur evolution, dinosaur origins, and fossil tetrapod macroevolution.[1]
Biography
[edit]Butler's undergraduate degree is a BSc in geology from the University of Bristol (2002). His Ph.D., in 2007, is from the University of Cambridge.[1]
He then worked at the London Natural History Museum as, first a postdoctoral research assistant (2006–2008), and then a NERC researcher co-investigator (2008–2009). From 2009 through 2011, he held an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the GeoBio-Center, in Munich, Germany, followed for 2011–2013 as junior research group leader there.[1]
He then came to the University of Birmingham, first as a Birmingham Fellow (2013–2015), then a Senior Birmingham Fellow and Academic Keeper of its Lapworth Museum of Geology (2015–2017). In 2017 he was appointed to a personal chair at Birmingham as professor of paleobiology.[1]
Professional work
[edit]According to his web page at Birmingham,[1] his interests are:
- "Systematics, taxonomy, and anatomy of fossil reptiles, particularly dinosaurs and closely related groups
- Terrestrial recovery from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction event
- Phanerozoic and Mesozoic diversification patterns among vertebrates, and fossil record quality
- Late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic vertebrate biogeography
- Body size evolution and its drivers in deep time
- Early evolution of the avian respiratory system, and lung ventilation among fossil archosaurs"
His most cited papers, according to Google Scholar[2] are:
- Butler RJ, Upchurch P, Norman DB. The phylogeny of the ornithischian dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 2008 Jan 1;6(1):1-40.[1], cited 237 times
- Brusatte SL, Nesbitt SJ, Irmis RB, Butler RJ, Benton MJ, Norell MA. The origin and early radiation of dinosaurs. Earth-Science Reviews. 2010 Jul 1;101(1-2):68-100, [2] cited 204 times
- Benson RB, Butler RJ, Lindgren J, Smith AS. Mesozoic marine tetrapod diversity: mass extinctions and temporal heterogeneity in geological megabiases affecting vertebrates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2009 Nov 18;277(1683):829-34.[3] cited 158 times
- Barrett PM, Butler RJ, Edwards NP, Milner AR. Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas. Zitteliana:An Internal Journal of Paleontology and Geology. (University of Zurich) 2008:61-107. [4] cited 126 times
Awards
[edit]He has received The President's Medal from the Palaeontological Association in 2023[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Professor Richard Butler – School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences – University of Birmingham". www.birmingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
- ^ "Richard J Butler". Google Scholar. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ "Medal and Award Winners List | The Palaeontological Association". www.palass.org. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
