{{Short description|English paleontologist and biologist (1947–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Use British English|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Jenny Clack | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FLS}} | birth_name = Jennifer Alice Agnew | image = Jenny_Clack.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1947|11|3}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2020|3|26|1947|11|3}} | death_place = | death_cause = | alma_mater = Newcastle University (BSc, PhD)<br/>University of Leicester<br/>University of Cambridge (MA) | spouse = | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | known_for = ''Gaining Ground: the Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods'' (2002) | website = | footnotes = | field = Zoology<br/>Palaeontology<br/>Evolutionary biology | work_institution = {{Plainlist| * Cambridge University Museum of Zoology * University of Cambridge * Darwin College, Cambridge}} | prizes = }} '''Jennifer Alice Clack''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|FRS|FLS}} (''née'' '''Agnew'''; 3 November 1947 – 26 March 2020) was an English palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist. She specialised in the early evolution of tetrapods, specifically studying the "fish to tetrapod" transition: the origin, evolutionary development and radiation of early tetrapods and their relatives among the lobe-finned fishes. She is best known for her book ''Gaining Ground: the Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods'', published in 2002 (second edition, 2012) and written with the layperson in mind.
Clack was curator at the Museum of Zoology and Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Cambridge, where she devoted her career to studying the early development of tetrapods, the "four-legged" animals said to have evolved from Devonian lobe-finned fishes and colonised the freshwater swamps of the Carboniferous period.
==Early life and education== Clack was born on 3 November 1947, the only child of Ernest and Alice Agnew.<ref name="Who's Who 2015">{{cite web|title=CLACK, Prof. Jennifer Alice|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U249891|website=Who's Who 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=3 November 2015|date=November 2014}}</ref> She was brought up in Manchester, England.<ref name="bio - personal website">{{cite web|last1=Clack|first1=Rob|title=Jenny Clack – Biography|url=http://www.theclacks.org.uk/jac/Biography.html|website=The Clacks|access-date=3 November 2015|date=6 October 2009}}</ref> She was educated at Bolton School (Girls' Division), a private school in Bolton, Lancashire. She received a B.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1970. In 1978, she accepted an invitation from Alec Panchen to obtain a Ph.D. from the same university, at the encouragement of her then new boyfriend Rob Clack. They married in 1980. Her doctorate was completed in 1984. She also held a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and an MA from the University of Cambridge. On 9 December 2000, she was awarded a Doctor of Science (ScD) degree by the University of Cambridge.<ref>{{cite news|title=Congregation of the Regent House on 9 December 2000|url=http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2000-01/weekly/5831/27.html|access-date=3 November 2015|work=Cambridge University Reporter|issue=5831|date=13 December 2000|page=27}}</ref>
==Academic career== In 1981, Clack joined the University Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge, as an Assistant Curator.<ref name="Who's Who 2015" /><ref name="bio - personal website" /> She was promoted to Senior Assistant Curator in 1995. Since 2005, she has been Curator in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the museum.<ref name="Who's Who 2015" /> In 2006, she was awarded a personal chair by the University of Cambridge, and took the title Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Clack, Prof. Jennifer Alice, (born 3 Nov. 1947), Curator in Vertebrate Palaeontology, 2005–15, and Professor, 2006–15, now Professor Emeritus of Vertebrate Palaeontology, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge; Fellow, Darwin College, Cambridge, 1997–2015, now Emeritus |website=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U249891 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U249891 |date=1 December 2020}}</ref> She retired in 2015 and became Emeritus Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the museum.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Ruta|first1=Marcello|last2=Ahlberg|first2=Per E.|last3=Smithson|first3=Timothy R.|date=2018|title=Fossils, function and phylogeny: Papers on early vertebrate evolution in honour of Professor Jennifer A. Clack – Introduction|journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|language=en|volume=109|issue=1–2|pages=1–14|doi=10.1017/S1755691019000057|issn=1755-6910|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1997, Clack was elected a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge;<ref>{{cite news|title=Darwin College|url=http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/1997-98/weekly/5718/24.html|access-date=3 November 2015|work=Cambridge University Reporter|issue=5718|date=5 November 1997|page=24}}</ref> since 1 October 2015, she has been an Emeritus Fellow.<ref>{{cite news|title=College Notices – Darwin College|url=http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2015-16/weekly/6396/section12.shtml|access-date=3 November 2015|work=Cambridge University Reporter|issue=6396|date=23 September 2015|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Master & fellows|url=https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/people/fellows|website=Darwin College, Cambridge|publisher=University of Cambridge|access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> From 2000 to 2005, she was Reader in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Cambridge.<ref name="Who's Who 2015" /> On 1 October 2006, Clack was awarded a personal chair by Cambridge, taking the title Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology.<ref name="Who's Who 2015" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Report of the General Board on Senior Academic Promotions|work=Cambridge University Reporter|issue=6036|date=17 May 2006|page=17}}</ref>
Clack is best known for her extensive body of work on early tetrapods, much of which redefined how paleontologists conceived of the evolution of limbs and other features associated with tetrapods' transition from other lobe-finned fishes. She began her career working primarily on the ear of early tetrapods<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J. A.|date=1983|title=The stapes of the Coal Measures embolomere Pholiderpeton scutigerum Huxley (Amphibia: Anthracosauria) and otic evolution in early tetrapods|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=79|issue=2|pages=121–148|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1983.tb01163.x|issn=0024-4082}}</ref> and later expanded to more broadly addressing the osteology and evolution of tetrapods. Together with Michael Coates (University of Chicago), Clack defined what is known as "Romer's Gap",<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Coates|first1=Michael I.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|date=1995|title=Romer's gap: Tetrapod origins and terrestriality|journal=Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Section C|series=4e série|volume=17|pages=373–388}}</ref> a major gap in the fossil record of early tetrapods and one that she subsequently began to fill in collaboration with other paleontologists. Clack also undertook extensive fieldwork expeditions in order to search for further remains of early tetrapods. In 1987, during an expedition to East Greenland, Clack and her team discovered the remains of the Devonian tetrapods ''Acanthostega'' and ''Ichthyostega,'' following up on field notes of researchers who had collected material of ''Acanthostega'' in 1970.<ref name="Hon DSc - University of Leicester">{{cite web|date=17 July 2014|title=Professor Jennifer Clack (Doctor of Science)|url=http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/for-journalists/graduation-ceremonies-1/july-2014/biographies/professor-jennifer-clack-doctor-of-science|access-date=3 November 2015|website=Press Office|publisher=University of Leicester|archive-date=23 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723131542/https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/for-journalists/graduation-ceremonies-1/july-2014/biographies/professor-jennifer-clack-doctor-of-science}}</ref> Additional surveys in 1998 led to the collection of substantial new material, including what is now recognized as ''Ymeria.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=CLACK|first1=JENNIFER A.|last2=AHLBERG|first2=PER E.|last3=BLOM|first3=HENNING|last4=FINNEY|first4=SARAH M.|date=2012|title=A new genus of Devonian tetrapod from North-East Greenland, with new information on the lower jaw of Ichthyostega|journal=Palaeontology|volume=55|issue=1|pages=73–86|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01117.x|bibcode=2012Palgy..55...73C |issn=0031-0239|doi-access=free}}</ref> Most recently, she led a major consortium project (TW:eed<ref>{{Cite web|title=The TWeed project: Evolution's Missing Chapter|url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/our-research/highlights-of-previous-projects/the-tweed-project-evolution-s-missing-chapter/|access-date=2020-07-12|website=National Museums Scotland|language=en|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712075634/https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/our-research/highlights-of-previous-projects/the-tweed-project-evolution-s-missing-chapter/|url-status=dead}}</ref>) investigating some exciting new fossils from Northumberland and the Borders Region of Scotland which date from the Tournaisian stage of the earliest Carboniferous period; this project has produced numerous publications furthering the understanding of early tetrapod evolution.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer A.|last2=Bennett|first2=Carys E.|last3=Carpenter|first3=David K.|last4=Davies|first4=Sarah J.|last5=Fraser|first5=Nicholas C.|last6=Kearsey|first6=Timothy I.|last7=Marshall|first7=John E. A.|last8=Millward|first8=David|last9=Otoo|first9=Benjamin K. A.|last10=Reeves|first10=Emma J.|last11=Ross|first11=Andrew J.|s2cid=22421017|date=2016-12-05|title=Phylogenetic and environmental context of a Tournaisian tetrapod fauna|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|volume=1|issue=1|page=2|doi=10.1038/s41559-016-0002|pmid=28812555|issn=2397-334X|url=http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/25383/7/__network.uni_staff_S1_cjoyner_Downloads_109_2_merged_1475152841.pdf|access-date=20 August 2020|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324050938/http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/25383/7/__network.uni_staff_S1_cjoyner_Downloads_109_2_merged_1475152841.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Otoo|first1=Benjamin K. A.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Smithson|first3=Timothy R.|last4=Bennett|first4=Carys E.|last5=Kearsey|first5=Timothy I.|last6=Coates|first6=Michael I.|date=2018-10-03|title=A fish and tetrapod fauna from Romer's Gap preserved in Scottish Tournaisian floodplain deposits|journal=Palaeontology|volume=62|issue=2|pages=225–253|doi=10.1111/pala.12395|issn=0031-0239|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smithson|first1=Timothy R.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|date=2017|title=A new tetrapod from Romer's Gap reveals an early adaptation for walking|journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|volume=108|issue=1|pages=89–97|doi=10.1017/s1755691018000075|s2cid=232149117|issn=1755-6910|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/264974}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer A.|last2=Bennett|first2=Carys E.|last3=Davies|first3=Sarah J.|last4=Scott|first4=Andrew C.|last5=Sherwin|first5=Janet E.|last6=Smithson|first6=Timothy R.|date=2019-01-03|title=A Tournaisian (earliest Carboniferous) conglomerate-preserved non-marine faunal assemblage and its environmental and sedimentological context|journal=PeerJ|language=en|volume=6|article-number=e5972|doi=10.7717/peerj.5972|issn=2167-8359|pmc=6321757|pmid=30627480 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Over the course of her lengthy career, Clack published in some of the most notable scientific journals, including Nature,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J. A.|s2cid=4348808|date=1989|title=Discovery of the earliest-known tetrapod stapes|journal=Nature|volume=342|issue=6248|pages=425–427|doi=10.1038/342425a0|pmid=2586610|bibcode=1989Natur.342..425C|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Coates|first1=M. I.|last2=Clack|first2=J. A.|s2cid=4340202|date=1991|title=Fish-like gills and breathing in the earliest known tetrapod|journal=Nature|volume=352|issue=6332|pages=234–236|doi=10.1038/352234a0|bibcode=1991Natur.352..234C|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=Per E.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Luks̆evic̆s|first3=Ervīns|s2cid=4338219|date=1996|title=Rapid braincase evolution between Panderichthys and the earliest tetrapods|journal=Nature|volume=381|issue=6577|pages=61–64|doi=10.1038/381061a0|bibcode=1996Natur.381...61A|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=Jennifer A.|s2cid=204998306|date=1998|title=A new Early Carboniferous tetrapod with a mélange of crown-group characters|journal=Nature|volume=394|issue=6688|pages=66–69|doi=10.1038/27895|bibcode=1998Natur.394...66C|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J. A.|s2cid=741732|date=2002|title=An early tetrapod from 'Romer's Gap'|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/nature00824|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=418|issue=6893|pages=72–76|doi=10.1038/nature00824|pmid=12097908|bibcode=2002Natur.418...72C |issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=J. A.|last2=Ahlberg|first2=P. E.|last3=Finney|first3=S. M.|last4=Dominguez Alonso|first4=P.|last5=Robinson|first5=J.|last6=Ketcham|first6=R. A.|s2cid=4411060|date=2003|title=A uniquely specialized ear in a very early tetrapod|journal=Nature|volume=425|issue=6953|pages=65–69|doi=10.1038/nature01904|pmid=12955140|bibcode=2003Natur.425...65C|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clément|first1=Gaël|last2=Ahlberg|first2=Per E.|last3=Blieck|first3=Alain|last4=Blom|first4=Henning|last5=Clack|first5=Jennifer A.|last6=Poty|first6=Edouard|last7=Thorez|first7=Jacques|last8=Janvier|first8=Philippe|s2cid=4414996|date=2004|title=Devonian tetrapod from western Europe|journal=Nature|volume=427|issue=6973|pages=412–413|doi=10.1038/427412a|pmid=14749820|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=Per Erik|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Blom|first3=Henning|s2cid=4370488|date=2005|title=The axial skeleton of the Devonian tetrapod Ichthyostega|journal=Nature|volume=437|issue=7055|pages=137–140|doi=10.1038/nature03893|pmid=16136143|bibcode=2005Natur.437..137A|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=Per Erik|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|s2cid=4392361|date=2006|title=A firm step from water to land|journal=Nature|volume=440|issue=7085|pages=748–749|doi=10.1038/440747a|pmid=16598240|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=Per E.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Lukševičs|first3=Ervīns|last4=Blom|first4=Henning|last5=Zupiņš|first5=Ivars|s2cid=4344417|date=2008|title=Ventastega curonica and the origin of tetrapod morphology|journal=Nature|volume=453|issue=7199|pages=1199–1204|doi=10.1038/nature06991|pmid=18580942|bibcode=2008Natur.453.1199A|issn=0028-0836|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-105437}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pierce|first1=Stephanie E.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Hutchinson|first3=John R.|s2cid=3127857|date=2012-05-23|title=Three-dimensional limb joint mobility in the early tetrapod Ichthyostega|journal=Nature|volume=486|issue=7404|pages=523–526|doi=10.1038/nature11124|pmid=22722854|bibcode=2012Natur.486..523P|issn=0028-0836|url=http://researchonline.rvc.ac.uk/id/eprint/6182/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pierce|first1=Stephanie E.|last2=Ahlberg|first2=Per E.|last3=Hutchinson|first3=John R.|last4=Molnar|first4=Julia L.|last5=Sanchez|first5=Sophie|last6=Tafforeau|first6=Paul|last7=Clack|first7=Jennifer A.|s2cid=4329395|date=2013-01-13|title=Vertebral architecture in the earliest stem tetrapods|journal=Nature|volume=494|issue=7436|pages=226–229|doi=10.1038/nature11825|pmid=23334417|bibcode=2013Natur.494..226P|issn=0028-0836|url=https://researchonline.rvc.ac.uk/id/eprint/6692/1/6692.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=Jennifer A.|s2cid=4392314|date=2015|title=The origin of terrestrial hearing|journal=Nature|volume=519|issue=7542|pages=168–169|doi=10.1038/519168a|pmid=25762279|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sanchez|first1=Sophie|last2=Tafforeau|first2=Paul|last3=Clack|first3=Jennifer A.|last4=Ahlberg|first4=Per E.|date=2016|title=Life history of the stem tetrapod Acanthostega revealed by synchrotron microtomography|journal=Nature|volume=537|issue=7620|pages=408–411|doi=10.1038/nature19354|pmid=27602519|pmc=6485594|bibcode=2016Natur.537..408S|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Beznosov|first1=Pavel A.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|last3=Lukševičs|first3=Ervīns|last4=Ruta|first4=Marcello|last5=Ahlberg|first5=Per Erik|s2cid=204848799|date=2019|title=Morphology of the earliest reconstructable tetrapod Parmastega aelidae|journal=Nature|volume=574|issue=7779|pages=527–531|doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1636-y|pmid=31645719|bibcode=2019Natur.574..527B|issn=0028-0836|url=http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/37873/1/preprint%20copy.pdf|access-date=20 August 2020|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202342/http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/37873/1/preprint%20copy.pdf}}</ref> Science,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J. A.|date=2004-04-02|title=PALEONTOLOGY: Enhanced: From Fins to Fingers|journal=Science|volume=304|issue=5667|pages=57–58|doi=10.1126/science.1096415|pmid=15060312|s2cid=82119710|issn=0036-8075}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Callier|first1=V.|last2=Clack|first2=J. A.|last3=Ahlberg|first3=P. E.|s2cid=28461841|date=2009-04-17|title=Contrasting Developmental Trajectories in the Earliest Known Tetrapod Forelimbs|journal=Science|volume=324|issue=5925|pages=364–367|doi=10.1126/science.1167542|pmid=19372425|bibcode=2009Sci...324..364C|issn=0036-8075}}</ref> and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smithson|first1=T. R.|last2=Wood|first2=S. P.|last3=Marshall|first3=J. E. A.|last4=Clack|first4=J. A.|date=2012-03-05|title=Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=109|issue=12|pages=4532–4537|doi=10.1073/pnas.1117332109|pmid=22393016|pmc=3311392|bibcode=2012PNAS..109.4532S|issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Neenan|first1=James M.|last2=Ruta|first2=Marcello|last3=Clack|first3=Jennifer A.|last4=Rayfield|first4=Emily J.|date=2014-04-22|title=Feeding biomechanics in Acanthostega and across the fish–tetrapod transition|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=281|issue=1781|article-number=20132689|doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.2689|pmid=24573844|pmc=3953833|issn=0962-8452}}</ref> and is one of the most published vertebrate paleontologists in Nature, arguably the leading scientific journal in the world, with over 15 papers in that journal alone. In addition to her ''Gaining Ground'' book, Clack also co-authored a volume of the Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie series on early tetrapods with Andrew Milner in 2015<ref>{{Cite web|title=Basal Tetrapoda|url=https://pfeil-verlag.de/en/publications/handbook-of-paleoherpetology-3a2-temnospondyli-i/|access-date=2020-07-12|website=Dr. Friedrich Pfeil Publishing|language=en-US}}</ref> and co-edited a volume on the evolution of hearing in 2016.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Evolution of the Vertebrate Ear|date=2016|publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=978-3-319-46659-0|editor-last=Clack|editor-first=Jennifer A.|series=Springer Handbook of Auditory Research|volume=59|location=Cham|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-46661-3|editor-last2=Fay|editor-first2=Richard R|editor-last3=Popper|editor-first3=Arthur N.|s2cid = 36018536}}</ref>
Clack is probably best known for discovering that the earliest tetrapods had more than five toes per foot: the Upper Devonian tetrapods from East Greenland, ''Ichthyostega'' had seven while ''Acanthostega'' had eight (compared to the six toes of the Russian Devonian tetrapod ''Tulerpeton''). This suggests that pentadactyly was not an ancestral trait for tetrapods.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Coates|first1=M. I.|last2=Clack|first2=J. A.|s2cid=4319165|date=1990|title=Polydactyly in the earliest known tetrapod limbs|journal=Nature|volume=347|issue=6288|pages=66–69|doi=10.1038/347066a0|bibcode=1990Natur.347...66C|issn=0028-0836}}</ref>
Clack supervised many graduate students who went on to pursue successful careers in paleontology and evolutionary biology, including Per Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Paul Upchurch (University College London), Michael Lee (Flinders University), and Matthew Friedman (University of Michigan).<ref name=":0" /> In April 2012 she was featured in an episode<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fq4yh|title=BBC Four - Beautiful Minds, Series 2, Professor Jenny Clack|website=BBC}}</ref> of the BBC television series ''Beautiful Minds'', a set of documentaries about scientists who have made important discoveries. This may be viewed on YouTube.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tYhqubFqF4&t=1617s|title=Beautiful Minds: YouTube|website=YouTube}}</ref> Clack was honored by her peers with a festschrift published in 2019.<ref name=":0" /> {| class="wikitable" |+Taxa named by Jennifer Clack and colleagues !Year !Taxon !Authors |- |2020 |''Rossichthys clackae'' gen. et sp. nov |Johanson et al.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Johanson|first1=Zerina|last2=Jeffery|first2=Jonathan|last3=Challands|first3=Tom|last4=Pierce|first4=Stephanie|last5=Clack|first5=Jennifer|date=27 Oct 2020|title=A New Look At Carboniferous Rhizodontid Humeri (Sarcopterygii; Tetrapodomorpha)|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2020.1813150|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=e1813150|issue=3|article-number=e1813150|doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1813150|bibcode=2020JVPal..40E3150J |s2cid=227241079}}</ref> |- |2020 |''Brittagnathus minutus'' gen. et sp. nov. |Ahlberg & Clack<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=Per E.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|date=2020|title=The smallest known Devonian tetrapod shows unexpectedly derived features|journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=7|issue=4|article-number=192117|doi=10.1098/rsos.192117|doi-access=free|pmid=32431888|pmc=7211834|bibcode=2020RSOS....792117A|issn=2054-5703}}</ref> |- |2019 |''Parmastega aelidae'' gen. et sp. nov. |Beznosov, Clack, Lukševičs, Ruta & Ahlberg<ref name=":3" /> |- |2019 |''Limanichthys fraseri'' gen. et sp. nov. |Challands et al.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Challands|first1=Tom J.|last2=Smithson|first2=Timothy R.|last3=Clack|first3=Jennifer A.|last4=Bennett|first4=Carys E.|last5=Marshall|first5=John E. A.|last6=Wallace-Johnson|first6=Sarah M.|last7=Hill|first7=Henrietta|s2cid=91623116|date=2019-03-11|title=A lungfish survivor of the end-Devonian extinction and an Early Carboniferous dipnoan radiation|journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology|volume=17|issue=21|pages=1825–1846|doi=10.1080/14772019.2019.1572234|issn=1477-2019|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/291856}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Celsiodon ahlbergi'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack, Challands, Smithon & Smithson<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer Alice|last2=Challands|first2=Thomas James|last3=Smithson|first3=Timothy Richard|last4=Smithson|first4=Keturah Zoe|date=2018-11-02|title=Newly recognized Famennian lungfishes from East Greenland reveal tooth plate diversity and blur the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary|journal=Papers in Palaeontology|volume=5|issue=2|pages=261–279|doi=10.1002/spp2.1242|s2cid=134074159 |issn=2056-2802}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Mesanerpeton woodi'' gen. et sp. nov. |Smithson & Clack<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smithson|first1=Timothy R.|last2=Clack|first2=Jennifer A.|date=2017|title=A new tetrapod from Romer's Gap reveals an early adaptation for walking|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/new-tetrapod-from-romers-gap-reveals-an-early-adaptation-for-walking/80C43A9191A8A8D7866FD0739C20A480|journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|language=en|volume=108|issue=1|pages=89–97|doi=10.1017/S1755691018000075|s2cid=232149117|issn=1755-6910}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Whitropus longicalcus'' gen. et sp. nov. |Richards et al.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Richards|first1=Kelly R.|last2=Sherwin|first2=Janet E.|last3=Smithson|first3=Timothy R.|last4=Bennion|first4=Rebecca F.|last5=Davies|first5=Sarah J.|last6=Marshall|first6=John E. A.|last7=Clack|first7=Jennifer A.|date=2017|title=Diverse and durophagous: Early Carboniferous chondrichthyans from the Scottish Borders|journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|volume=108|issue=1|pages=67–87|doi=10.1017/s1755691018000166|s2cid=133929085|issn=1755-6910|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/277105}}</ref> |- |2018 |''Deltodus tubineus'' sp. nov. |Richards et al.<ref name=":4" /> |- |2017 |''Spathicephalus marsdeni'' sp. nov. |Smithson et al.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smithson|first1=Timothy R.|last2=Browne|first2=Michael A. E.|last3=Davies|first3=Sarah J.|last4=Marshall|first4=John E. A.|last5=Millward|first5=David|last6=Walsh|first6=Stig A.|last7=Clack|first7=Jennifer A.|date=2017|title=A new Mississippian tetrapod from Fife, Scotland, and its environmental context|journal=Papers in Palaeontology|language=en|volume=3|issue=4|pages=547–557|doi=10.1002/spp2.1086|issn=2056-2802|doi-access=free|hdl=2381/40472|hdl-access=free}}</ref> |- |2016 |''Perittodus apsconditus'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Smithson<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer A.|last2=Bennett|first2=Carys E.|last3=Carpenter|first3=David K.|last4=Davies|first4=Sarah J.|last5=Fraser|first5=Nicholas C.|last6=Kearsey|first6=Timothy I.|last7=Marshall|first7=John E. A.|last8=Millward|first8=David|last9=Otoo|first9=Benjamin K. A.|last10=Reeves|first10=Emma J.|last11=Ross|first11=Andrew J.|s2cid=22421017|date=2016-12-05|title=Phylogenetic and environmental context of a Tournaisian tetrapod fauna|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|volume=1|issue=1|page=2|doi=10.1038/s41559-016-0002|pmid=28812555|issn=2397-334X|url=http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/25383/7/__network.uni_staff_S1_cjoyner_Downloads_109_2_merged_1475152841.pdf|access-date=20 August 2020|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324050938/http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/25383/7/__network.uni_staff_S1_cjoyner_Downloads_109_2_merged_1475152841.pdf}}</ref> |- |2016 |''Koilops herma'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Smithson<ref name=":5" /> |- |2016 |''Ossirarus kierani'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Smithson<ref name=":5" /> |- |2016 |''Diploradus austiumensis'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Smithson<ref name=":5" /> |- |2016 |''Aytonerpeton microps'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Smithson<ref name=":5" /> |- |2015 |''Ctenodus williei'' sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Smithson|first1=Timothy R.|last2=Richards|first2=Kelly R.|last3=Clack|first3=Jennifer A.|date=2016|title=Lungfish diversity in Romer's Gap: reaction to the end-Devonian extinction|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=59|issue=1|pages=29–44|doi=10.1111/pala.12203|bibcode=2016Palgy..59...29S |issn=1475-4983|doi-access=free}}</ref> |- |2015 |''Ctenodus whitropei'' sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Ctenodus roberti'' sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Xylognathus macrustenus'' gen. et sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Ballagadus rossi'' gen. et sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Ballagadus caustrimi'' sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Coccovedus celatus'' gen. et sp. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2015 |''Occludus romeri'' gen. nov. |Smithson, Richards & Clack<ref name=":6" /> |- |2012 |''Ymeria denticulata'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack, Ahlberg, Blöm & Finney<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer A.|last2=Ahlberg|first2=Per E.|last3=Blom|first3=Henning|last4=Finney|first4=Sarah M.|date=2012|title=A new genus of Devonian tetrapod from North-East Greenland, with new information on the lower jaw of Ichthyostega: A NEW GENUS OF DEVONIAN TETRAPOD|journal=Palaeontology|language=en|volume=55|issue=1|pages=73–86|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01117.x|bibcode=2012Palgy..55...73C |doi-access=free}}</ref> |- |2011 |''Kirktonecta milnerae'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=Jennifer A.|date=2011|title=A new microsaur from the early carboniferous (Viséan) of East Kirkton, Scotland, showing soft tissue evidence|journal=Special Papers in Palaeontology|volume=29|pages=45–55}}</ref> |- |2004 |''Occidens portlocki'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack & Ahlberg<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Clack|first1=Jennifer A.|title=A new stem tetrapod from the Early Carboniferous of Northern Ireland|last2=Ahlberg|first2=Erik|work=Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates|publisher=Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil|year=2004|editor-last=Arratia|editor-first=G.|location=München|pages=309–320|editor-last2=Wilson|editor-first2=M.V.H.|editor-last3=Cloutier|editor-first3=R.}}</ref> |- |2003 |''Kyrinion martilli'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J A|date=2003-04-01|title=A new baphetid (stem tetrapod) from the Upper Carboniferous of Tyne and Wear, U.K., and the evolution of the tetrapod occiput|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=40|issue=4|pages=483–498|doi=10.1139/e02-065|bibcode=2003CaJES..40..483C|issn=0008-4077}}</ref> |- |2002 |''Pederpes finneyae'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack<ref name=":2" /> |- |1998 |''Eucritta melanolimnetes'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack<ref name=":1" /> |- |1993 |''Silvanerpeton miripedes'' gen. et sp. nov. |Clack<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clack|first=J. A.|date=1993|title=Silvanerpeton miripedes, a new anthracosauroid from the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland|journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|volume=84|issue=3–4|pages=369–376|doi=10.1017/s0263593300006179|s2cid=130790735 |issn=1755-6910}}</ref> |}
==Death== Clack died on 26 March 2020 at the age of 72, after a five-year battle with endometrial cancer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aucott |first1=Rachel |title=Professor Jenny Clack, FRS, 1947-2020 |url=https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-jenny-clack-frs-1947-2020 |website=www.zoo.cam.ac.uk |publisher=Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |access-date=27 March 2020 |language=en |date=26 March 2020}}</ref>
==Honours== In 2008, Clack was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the first woman to achieve the honor.<ref name=Elliot>{{cite web|title=Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal |url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_elliot |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229194403/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_elliot |archive-date=29 December 2010 }}</ref>
In 2009, Clack was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ahlberg|first1=P. E.|last2=Smithson|first2=T. R.|date=2021|title=Jennifer A. Clack. 3 November 1947—26 March 2020|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=71|pages=79–101 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2021.0008|s2cid=234771873|doi-access=free}}</ref> the first female vertebrate paleontologist to achieve the honor.<ref name="bio - Royal Society fellows">{{cite web|title=Jennifer Clack|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/jennifer-clack-11235/|website=Fellows Directory|publisher=The Royal Society|access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> She has also been elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/your-inner-fish/about/featured-scientists/|title=Featured Scientists {{!}} Your Inner Fish|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=2020-03-30}}</ref>
On 15 June 2013, Clack was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) degree by the University of Chicago. The university described her as "an internationally preeminent palaeontologist whose research has profoundly changed the understanding of the origin of terrestrial vertebrate life."<ref name="Hon DSc - University of Chicago">{{cite web |last1=Koppes |first1=Steve |last2=Allen |first2=Susie |title=University to bestow five honorary degrees at 515th Convocation |url=http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/05/15/university-bestow-five-honorary-degrees-515th-convocation|website=U Chicago News |publisher=The University of Chicago|access-date=3 November 2015|date=15 May 2013}}</ref> Also in 2013, she was awarded the T Neville George Medal by the Geological Society of Glasgow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/news/two-awards|title=Two awards|date=July 4, 2013|website=University of Cambridge - Department of Zoology|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref>
On 17 July 2014, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Leicester.<ref>{{cite web|title=Figures from public life to be honoured by University of Leicester|url=https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2014/july/figures-from-public-life-to-be-honoured-by-university-of-leicester|publisher=University of Leicester|access-date=3 November 2015|date=10 July 2014|archive-date=19 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719075217/http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2014/july/figures-from-public-life-to-be-honoured-by-university-of-leicester}}</ref> Also in 2014, she was made an Honorary Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kva.se/en/nyheter/sex-nya-ledamoter-invalda-i-akademien|title=Six new members elected to the Academy|date=3 February 2014 }}</ref>
In 2018, she won the Palaeontological Association's most prestigious award, the Lapworth Medal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-jenny-clack-awarded-the-palaeontological-associations-lapworth-medal|title=Professor Jenny Clack awarded the Palaeontological Association's Lapworth Medal|publisher=University of Cambridge - Department of Zoology|date=18 December 2015|access-date=28 March 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130702002345/http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/clack.htm Jenny Clack on the Cambridge University website] *[http://www.theclacks.org.uk/jac/ Home page - Jennifer "Jenny" Clack] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20021001220802/http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/explorations/bio_clack.html Profile on PBS website] *[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/diva-devonian/ Interview on PBS website] *[https://vimeo.com/37401404 Jenny Clack, Paleontologist: The First Vertebrate Walks on Land] on Vimeo, 2012
{{FRS 2009}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clack, Jenny}} Category:1947 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Alumni of Newcastle University Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester Category:English palaeontologists Category:British women paleontologists Category:Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge Category:Female fellows of the Royal Society Category:Scientists from Manchester Category:People educated at Bolton School Category:21st-century English women scientists Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:British fellows of the Royal Society