Richard James Butler is a vertebrate palaeontologist at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where he holds the title of professor of

palaeobiology Paleobiology (or palaeobiology) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the methods and findings found in both the earth sciences and the life sciences. Paleobiology is not to be confused with geobiology, which focuses more on the interactio ...

. His research focuses on

ornithischian Ornithischia () is an extinct order of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek s ...

dinosaur evolution,

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

origins, and fossil

tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids (pelycosaurs, extinct theraps ...

macroevolution.

Biography

Butler's undergraduate degree is a BSc in geology from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

(2002). His Ph.D., in 2007, is from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. 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 Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, followed for 2011–2013 as junior research group leader there. 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 The Lapworth Museum of Geology is a geological museum run by the University of Birmingham and located on the university's campus in Edgbaston, south Birmingham, England. The museum is named after the geologist Charles Lapworth, its origins datin ...

(2015–2017). In 2017 he was appointed to a personal chair at Birmingham as professor of paleobiology.

Professional work

According to his web page at Birmingham, 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 are: * Butler RJ, Upchurch P, Norman DB. The phylogeny of the ornithischian dinosaurs. ''

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology The ''Journal of Systematic Palaeontolog'y'' (Print: , online: ) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of palaeontology published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the British Natural History Museum. , the editor-in-chief is Paul D. Taylor. T ...

''. 2008 Jan 1;6(1):1-4

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 ''Earth-Science Reviews'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It covers all aspects of Earth sciences. The editors-in-chief for this journal are A. Chin, C. Doglioni, J.L. Florsheim, M.F.J. Flower, G.R. Foulger, A. ...

''. 2010 Jul 1;101(1-2):68-100

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, ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences''. 2009 Nov 18;277(1683):829-3

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

cited 126 times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Richard J. Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Cambridge Living people Paleobiologists Year of birth missing (living people)