Professor Richard Butler PhD

Richard is a vertebrate palaeontologist with expertise in the systematics, evolution and biogeography of late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic reptiles. His research addresses major patterns and drivers of biodiversity change through deep time, particularly as exemplified by four-limbed vertebrates (tetrapods), over the last 375 million years. He is also interested in the origin and dramatic evolutionary radiation of dinosaurs and closely related fossil groups in the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction, the largest extinction event in the history of life on Earth. In addition to research, he acts as Director of Global Engagement for the College of Life & Environmental Sciences and the University's REF2021 lead for Earth and Environmental Sciences.

• 2020–. Director of Global Engagement, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham.
• 2017–. Professor of Palaeobiology (personal chair), University of Birmingham.
• 2015–2017. Senior Birmingham Fellow and Academic Keeper of the Lapworth Museum of Geology, University of Birmingham.
• 2013–2015. Birmingham Fellow, University of Birmingham
• 2011–2013. Junior Research Group Leader, Emmy Noether Programme (DFG), GeoBio-Center, LMU, Munich, Germany. 
• 2009–2011. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship. Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Germany
• 2008–2009. NERC Researcher Co-Investigator. Natural History Museum London. 
• 2006–2008. NERC Postdoctoral Research Assistant. Natural History Museum, London. 

Recent publications

Article

Panciroli, E, Benson, RBJ, Fernandez, V, Butler, R, Fraser, N, Luo, Z-X & Walsh, S 2021, 'New species of mammaliaform and the cranium of Borealestes (Mammaliformes: Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles', Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 2021, zlaa144. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa144

Bird, H, Milner, A, Shillito, A & Butler, R 2020, 'A lower Carboniferous (Visean) tetrapod trackway represents the earliest record of an edopoid amphibian from the UK', Geological Society. Journal, vol. 177, no. 2, pp. 276-282. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2019-149

Ezcurra, M, Butler, R, Maidment, S, Sansom, I, Meade, L & Radley, J 2020, 'A revision of the early neotheropod genus Sarcosaurus from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) of central England', Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa054

Montefeitro, F, Lautenschlager, S, Godoy, P, Ferreira, G & Butler, R 2020, 'A unique predator in a unique ecosystem: modelling the apex predator within a Late Cretaceous crocodyliform-dominated fauna from Brazil', Journal of Anatomy, vol. 237, no. 2, pp. 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13192

Dunne, E, Farnsworth, A, Greene, S, Lunt, DJ & Butler, R 2020, 'Climatic drivers of latitudinal variation in Late Triassic tetrapod diversity', Palaeontology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12514

Scheyer, TM, Spiekman, S, Sues, H-D, Ezcurra, M, Butler, R & Jones, M 2020, 'Colobops: a juvenile rhynchocephalian reptile (Lepidosauromorpha), not a diminutive archosauromorph with an unusually strong bite', Royal Society Open Science, vol. 7, no. 3, 192179. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.192179

Bestwick, J, Jones, A, Purnell, M & Butler, R 2020, 'Dietary constraints of phytosaurian reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis', Palaeontology, vol. 2020, 12515. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12515

Bestwick, J, Unwin, D, Butler, R & Purnell, M 2020, 'Dietary diversity and evolution of the earliest flying vertebrates revealed by dental microwear texture analysis', Nature Communications, vol. 2020, 5293. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19022-2

Panciroli, E, Benson, RBJ, Walsh, S, Butler, R, Castro, T, Jones, M & Evans, SE 2020, 'Diverse vertebrate assemblage of the Kilmaluag Formation (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Skye, Scotland', Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/diverse-vertebrate-assemblage-of-the-kilmaluag-formation-bathonian-middle-jurassic-of-skye-scotland/B8DD4D46839FA83FA2E57437BDEBF2B8>

Brown, E, Butler, R, Ezcurra, M, Bhullar, B-A & Lautenschlager, S 2020, 'Endocranial anatomy and life habits of the Early Triassic archosauriform Proterosuchus fergusi', Palaeontology, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 255-282. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12454

Pinheiro, F, Oliveira, D & Butler, R 2020, 'Osteology of the archosauromorph Teyujagua paradoxa and the early evolution of the archosauriform skull', Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 189, no. 1, pp. 378–417. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz093

Foffa, D, Butler, R, Nesbitt, S, Walsh, S, Barrett, PM, Brusatte, SL & Fraser, N 2020, 'Revision of Erpetosuchus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) and new erpetosuchid material from the Late Triassic ‘Elgin Reptile’ fauna based on µCT scanning techniques', Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Cashmore, D, Mannion, P, Upchurch, P & Butler, R 2020, 'Ten more years of discovery: revisiting the quality of the sauropodomorph dinosaur fossil record', Palaeontology, vol. 63, no. 6, pp. 951-978. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12496

Close, R, Benson, RBJ, Alroy, J, Carrano, MT, Cleary, T, Dunne, E, Mannion, P, Uhen, M & Butler, R 2020, 'The apparent exponential radiation of Phanerozoic land vertebrates is an artefact of spatial sampling biases', Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, vol. 287, no. 1924, 20200372. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0372

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Ezcurra, M, Jones, A, Gentil, A & Butler, R 2020, Early Archosauromorphs: The Crocodile and Dinosaur Precursors. in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978012409548912439X?via%3Dihub>

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