Summary
I am a palaeobiologist interested in patterns and processes of species-level evolution, adaptation and extinction. My research focusses mainly on Quaternary to recent large mammals, with special expertise in deer and elephants (including mammoths). The main ongoing projects in my group are: (1) the origin and dwarfing of endemic mammal species (especially elephants and deer) on Mediterranean islands in the Quaternary; (2) the timing and causes of extinction of large mammals ('megafauna') in the Late Quaternary, by mapping the shifting ranges of mammal species in relation to vegetation and people; (3) patterns of speciation and adaptation in fossil elephants and other mammals, with a particular interest in the role of behaviour in initiating adaptive change.
Qualifications
Degrees
- BA, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1973 - 1976
- PhD, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1976 - 1981
Employment history
Academic
- Research Leader in Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2007 - ongoing
- Honorary Professor, University College London, Genetics, Evolution and Environment, United Kingdom, 2007 - ongoing
- Lecturer (1992), Reader (1997) and Professor (2002) in Palaeobiology, University College London, Biology, United Kingdom, 1992 - 2007
- BBSRC Advanced Research Fellow, University College London, Biology, United Kingdom, 1992 - 1996
- Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (2 NERC grants), University College London, Biology, United Kingdom, 1986 - 1991
- Research Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge, Zoology, United Kingdom, 1982 - 1985
- Royal Society European Exchange Fellow, University of Aix-Marseille, France, and Senckenberg Institute, Frankfurt, France and Germany, 1981 - 1982
Highlighted publications
- Lister AM, Stuart AJ (2019) The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence. Quaternary International, Elsevier BV : 185 - 203. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.025
- Lister A (2018) Darwin's Fossils Discoveries That Shaped the Theory of Evolution.
- Meiri M, Kosintsev P, Conroy K, Meiri S, Barnes I, Lister A (2018) Journal of Biogeography, (2) Wiley : 367 - 380. doi: 10.1111/jbi.13124
- Lister AM, Sher AV (2015) Evolution and dispersal of mammoths across the Northern Hemisphere. Science, (6262) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) : 805 - 809. doi: 10.1126/science.aac5660
- Lister AM (2014) Behavioural leads in evolution: evidence from the fossil record. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, (2) Oxford University Press (OUP) : 315 - 331. doi: 10.1111/bij.12173
- Lister A (2014) Mammoths: Ice Age Giants. Natural History Museum
- Lister AM (2013) The role of behaviour in adaptive morphological evolution of African proboscideans. Nature, (7462) Springer Science and Business Media LLC : 331 - 334. doi: 10.1038/nature12275
- Lister AM (2004) The impact of Quaternary Ice Ages on mammalian evolution. Willis KJ, Bennett KD, Walker D (Eds).Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, (1442) The Royal Society : 221 - 241. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1436
- Stuart AJ, Kosintsev PA, Higham TFG, Lister AM (2004) Pleistocene to Holocene extinction dynamics in giant deer and woolly mammoth. Nature, (7009) Springer Science and Business Media LLC : 684 - 689. doi: 10.1038/nature02890
- Lister AM, Sher AV (2001) The Origin and Evolution of the Woolly Mammoth. Science, (5544) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) : 1094 - 1097. doi: 10.1126/science.1056370
- Lister AM (1995) Sea-levels and the evolution of island endemics: the dwarf red deer of Jersey. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, (1) Geological Society of London : 151 - 172. doi: 10.1144/gsl.sp.1995.096.01.12
Highlighted publications
- Lister AM, Stuart AJ (2019) The extinction of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach): New radiocarbon evidence. Quaternary International, Elsevier BV : 185 - 203. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.025
- Lister A (2018) Darwin's Fossils Discoveries That Shaped the Theory of Evolution.
- Meiri M, Kosintsev P, Conroy K, Meiri S, Barnes I, Lister A (2018) Journal of Biogeography, (2) Wiley : 367 - 380. doi: 10.1111/jbi.13124
- Lister AM, Sher AV (2015) Evolution and dispersal of mammoths across the Northern Hemisphere. Science, (6262) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) : 805 - 809. doi: 10.1126/science.aac5660
- Lister AM (2014) Behavioural leads in evolution: evidence from the fossil record. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, (2) Oxford University Press (OUP) : 315 - 331. doi: 10.1111/bij.12173
- Lister A (2014) Mammoths: Ice Age Giants. Natural History Museum
- Lister AM (2013) The role of behaviour in adaptive morphological evolution of African proboscideans. Nature, (7462) Springer Science and Business Media LLC : 331 - 334. doi: 10.1038/nature12275
- Lister AM (2004) The impact of Quaternary Ice Ages on mammalian evolution. Willis KJ, Bennett KD, Walker D (Eds).Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, (1442) The Royal Society : 221 - 241. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1436
- Stuart AJ, Kosintsev PA, Higham TFG, Lister AM (2004) Pleistocene to Holocene extinction dynamics in giant deer and woolly mammoth. Nature, (7009) Springer Science and Business Media LLC : 684 - 689. doi: 10.1038/nature02890
- Lister AM, Sher AV (2001) The Origin and Evolution of the Woolly Mammoth. Science, (5544) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) : 1094 - 1097. doi: 10.1126/science.1056370
- Lister AM (1995) Sea-levels and the evolution of island endemics: the dwarf red deer of Jersey. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, (1) Geological Society of London : 151 - 172. doi: 10.1144/gsl.sp.1995.096.01.12