Michael J. Benton

Infobox_Scientist
name = Michael J. Benton


caption =
birth_date =
birth_place = Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
residence = England flagicon|England
nationality = British flagicon|UK
field = Paleontology
work_institution = University of Bristol
alma_mater = University of Aberdeen and Newcastle University
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students = Davide Pisani, Mark Wilkinson
known_for =
prizes =
religion =
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:"This page is about the paleontologist Michael J. Benton. For the American Foreign Service Officer see Michael L. Benton"

Michael J. Benton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. His published work has mostly concentrated on the evolution of Triassic reptiles but he has also worked on extinction events and faunal changes in the fossil record.

He is the author of several palaeontology text books (e.g. "Vertebrate Palaeontology") and children's books. He has also advised on many media productions including BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs.

Research Interests

* Diversification of life
* Quality of the fossil record
* Shapes of phylogenies
* Age-clade congruence
* Mass extinctions
* Triassic ecosystem evolution
* Basal diapsid phylogeny
* Basal archosaurs
* The origin of the dinosaurs

Journal Publications

Benton, M. J. and Emerson, B. C. 2007. How did life become so diverse? The dynamics of diversification according to the fossil record and molecular phylogenetics. Palaeontology 50: 23-40.

Books

2005Mesozoic and Tertiary fossil mammals and birds of Great Britain by M. J. Benton, L. Cook, D. Schreve, A Currant, and J. J. HookerMesozoic and Tertiary fossil mammals and birds of Great Britain by M. J. Benton, L. Cook, D. Schreve, A Currant, and J. J. HookerVertebrate palaeontology (Third edition) by M. J. Benton

2003When life nearly died: the greatest mass extinction of all time by M. J. Benton

2002Permian and Triassic red beds and the Penarth Group of Great Britain by M. J. Benton, E. Cook, and P. J. Turner

2000The age of dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia , edited by M. J. Benton, D. M. Unwin, M. A. Shishkin, and E. N. KurochkinWalking with dinosaurs: the facts by M. J. Benton

1997Basic palaeontology by M. J. Benton and D. A. T. HarperVertebrate palaeontology (Second edition) by M. J. Benton

1996The Penguin historical atlas of the dinosaurs by M. J. BentonThe Viking atlas of evolution by R. Osborne and M. J. Benton

1995Fossil reptiles of Great Britain by M. J. Benton and P. S. Spencer

1993The fossil record 2 edited by M. J. Benton

1991The rise of the mammals by M. J. BentonThe reign of the reptiles by M. J. Benton

1990On the trail of the dinosaurs by M. J. BentonVertebrate palaeontology by M. J. Benton

1988The phylogeny and classification of the tetrapods, Volumes 1 and 2 edited by M. J. Benton

External links

* [http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/personnel/benton/Benton.html Official Home Page]