Adrian Lister

I am a palaeobiologist interested in patterns and processes of species-level evolution, adaptation and extinction.

My research focuses 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.