plesiosauria@gmail.com

My Plesiosaur News Blog

All rights reserved. Last updated May. 2009 This site first opened in June 2001 and is continually under construction.

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Dr Adam Stuart Smith

National Museum of Ireland, Natural History Division, Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

[Research][Publications][Presentations][Theses][Employment][Personal]

 

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about my research or this website, please contact me, I will be happy to hear from you (plesiosauria@gmail.com).

My Research

My research interests focus primarily on Mesozoic marine reptiles, in particular on plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and crocodiles. I recently completed my PhD (download PDF-12.5mb) on the Anatomy and systematics of the Rhomaleosauridae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria), which was based at the National University of Ireland (University College Dublin). I am currently investigating a number of topics including the palaeobiology of thalattosuchian crocodilians, the 'Leeds Collection' in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History), a review of Irish Mesozoic marine reptiles, and the description of a rediscovered plesiosaur skeleton in the Warwick Museum. Thanks to funding from SYNTHESYS I have also been able to research material in the Geology Museums in Copenhagen and Stockholm, predominantly plesiosaurs from the Pliensbachian of Denmark and the Maastrichtian of Sweden.

In March 2009 I took up a documentation assistant position in the National Museum of Ireland, where I am part of a team dedicated to documenting and databasing the Natural History collections.

Peer-reviewed publications

Vincent, P. and Smith, A.S. A redescription of Plesiosaurus propinquus Tate & Blake, 1876 (Reptilia, Plesiosauria), from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of Yorkshire, England. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. (in press)

Smith, A. S. 2008. Plesiosaurs from the Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Bornholm, Denmark. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28 (4), 1213 - 1217. (request PDF from plesiosauria@gmail.com)

Araujo, R; Smith, A.S. and Liston, J. 2008. The Alfred Leeds fossil vertebrate collection of the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History. Irish Journal of Earth Science, 26, 17-32. (download PDF)

Smith, A.S. and Dyke, G.J. 2008. The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni : implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics. Naturwissenschaften, 95, 975-980. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. and Zaton, M. 2007. The first Actinopterygian (Pisces: Osteichthyes) tooth from the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) of The Polish Jura (south-central Poland). Paläontologie, Stratigraphie, Fazies (15), Freiberger Forschungshefte, Reihe C, 254, 35-40. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. and Radley, J. D. 2007. A marine reptile fauna from the Early Jurassic Saltford Shale
(Blue Lias Formation) of central England. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 56 (4), 253-260.

Smith, A. S. 2007. The back-to-front plesiosaur Cryptoclidus (Apractocleidus) aldingeri from the Kimmeridgian of Milne Land, Greenland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, 55, 1-7. (download PDF)

Books

Smith, A. S. and Wyse Jackson, P. 2009. Discovering Ireland's Rocks and Fossils. Geoschol Books, Dublin, 24pp. ISBN 0-9521066-7-1

Popular articles and book reviews

Smith, A. S. 2008a. Fossils explained 54: plesiosaurs. Geology Today. 24, (2), 71-75. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2008b. Book review – A History of Paleontological Illustration, by Jane P. Davidson. Geological Curator, 8, (9), 462.

Smith, A. S. 2007. Book review of Sea Monsters — Prehistoric Creatues of the Deep, by Michael J. Everhart. Palaeontologia Electronica, 10 (3), R7, 2pp. (download PDF) (view online article)

Smith, A. S. and Ibrahim, N. 2007. Prehistoric animals - sticking their necks out. Rockwatch, 46, 14-15. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006a. Book review - Starring T.rex! Palaeontological Association Newsletter, 62, 119-122. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006b. Dublin's Jurassic 'Sea-Dragon'. Science Spin - Geoscience, 17, 26-27. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2005. Book Review - Oceans of Kansas - a natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Palaeontological Association Newsletter, 60, 90-92. (download PDF)

Smith A. S. 2005. Are Jaffa Cakes really biscuits? Using cladistics to classify biscuits. Journal of Unlikely Science, 1, (7), 2-6. (Online Version)

Smith, A. S. 2003. Plesiosaurs - Mesozoic marine monsters. Rockwatch, 34, 4-5.

Abstracts of conference presentations & posters

Smith, A. S. 2008. Did plesiosaurs have a caudal fin? 56th Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparitive Anatomy. (Oral presentation).

Smith, A. S. 2007. A skeletal reconstruction of Rhomaleosaurus and the systematics of pliosaurs. 55th Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparitive Anatomy. (Oral presentation).

Smith, A. S. 2007. Lower Jurassic pliosaur taxonomy and a skeletal reconstruction of Rhomaleosaurus. Progressive Palaeontology 2007. (Oral presentation). (download abstract book PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006. Cranial anatomy and systematics of Lower Jurassic pliosaurs. 54th Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparitive Anatomy. (Poster presentation) (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006. Cranial anatomy and systematics of Lower Jurassic pliosaurs - new information from the National Museum of Ireland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26 (3), 126A. (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006. Cranial anatomy and systematics of Lower Jurassic pliosaurs - new information from the National Museum of Ireland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26 (3), 126A. (Oral presentation) (download PDF)

Smith, A. S. 2006. Cranial anatomy and systematics of Lower Jurassic pliosaurs. Progressive Palaeontology 2006. (Oral presentation).

Smith A. S. 2005. Important plesiosaurs in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History). Progressive Palaeontology 2005. (Oral presentation).

Smith, A. S. 2005. Important plesiosaurs in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History). 53rd Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparitive Anatomy. (Poster presentation) (download PDF)

Smith A. S. 2005. Important plesiosaurs in the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History). 48th Annual Irish Geological Research Meeting. (Oral presentation).

Other presentations

I'm always delighted to talk about plesiosaurs to a popular audience and have been an invited speaker for various local groups including the Belfast Geologist's Society and the Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group, and several institutions: The University of Bristol; The Geologisk Museum, Coenhagen; The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm; Trinity College, Dublin; and University College Dublin.

Theses

Smith, A. S. 2007. Anatomy and systematics of the Rhomaleosauridae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria). PhD thesis. University College Dublin, 278pp. (Unpublished) (download PDF - 12.5mb )

Smith, A. S. 2003. Cladistic analysis of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia). Masters thesis in palaeobiology, University of Bristol, 91pp. (Unpublished) (download PDF)

At the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery sea-dragons exhibit (2003).

Employment and professional service

Documentation assistant, Natural History Divison, National Museum of Ireland (March 2009 - Ongoing). Part of a team dedicated to documenting and databasing the Natural History collections.

Object researcher, Natural Science, Thinktank, the Birmingham Science Museum. (Feb 2009 - March 2009).

Education and curatorial assistant, Geoschol Project, Trinity College, Dublin. (October 2007 - Feb 2009). Production of earth science material for Irish schools - posters, leaflets, an activity book, museum exhibits and a website.

Assistant editor, Palaeontologica Electronica (April 2007 -Ongoing) (find out more...).

Demonstrator, National University of Ireland (University College Dublin). Informal teaching, group discussion, occasional lecturing. (January 2005 -Ongoing).

Web content research assistant, University of Bristol, in conjunction with the BBC, Open University, and the Natural History Museum, London. Collecting information and producing content for a website to accompany the BBC series, British Isles: A Natural History. (April 2004 - January 2005).

Scientific consultant, Qube Software. (2003 - Ongoing) (find out more...).

Palaeoartist, numerous commissions. My restorations of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals feature in magazine articles, books and museum exhibits. (Ongoing) (find out more...).

Personal

I was born and brought up in Coventry (UK). Prehistoric animals have always been a passion that I have pursued inside and out of academia. I completed a degree in palaeobiology and evolution (Portsmouth) and a masters degree in palaeobiology (Bristol) before completing a PhD project dedicated to plesiosaurs (UCD, Dublin). I am a keen palaeoartist and webmaster, also check out my plesiosaur news page at http://www.plesiosaurnews.wordpress.com and my dinosaur toy blog at http://www.dinosaurcollector.wordpress.com

Adam Stuart Smith alongside a Triceratops

Myself alongside a Triceratops in the Natural History Museum, London (1986?)