{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Paul Smith | image = | birth_date = | birth_place = England {{flagicon|England}} | death_date = | death_place = | field = Palaeontology | work_institution = University of Birmingham | alma_mater = University of Nottingham<br /> University of Leicester | doctoral_advisor = Richard Aldridge | doctoral_students = Ivan Sansom | known_for = | prizes = | footnotes = | website = https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/people/paul-smith }} '''M. Paul Smith''' is a British palaeontologist, head of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and professor in Kellogg College. Previously he was Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Birmingham, head of the university's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Director of its Lapworth Museum of Geology.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.birminghamheritage.org.uk/lapworth.html | title=BHF - Lapworth Museum of Geology }}</ref> He received his BSc from the University of Leicester and his PhD from the University of Nottingham.

Smith's research primarily has focused on the conodont palaeobiology and the early Palaeozoic radiation of vertebrates. He is known for discovering that conodont teeth were made of bone cells, such as are found only in vertebrates. This dated the origin of the vertebrates to 515 million years before the present, 40 million years earlier than had been previously thought.<ref>Malcolm W. Brown "Evidence of Bone Shows Vertebrates To Be Far Older Than Once Believed" ''New york Times,'' May 29, 1992 [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10615FA3F590C7A8EDDAC0894DA494D81]</ref>

He was also involved in the geological mapping of northeastern Greenland.<ref>[https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/people/paul-smith Oxford Museum webpage].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The adventures of a geologist: From shipwrecks to mapping the Arctic |journal=New Scientist |date=Nov 23, 2019 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432571-600-the-adventures-of-a-geologist-from-shipwrecks-to-mapping-the-arctic/}}</ref>

He is Chair of the Publications Board of The Palaeontological Association,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.palass.org/modules.php?name=palaeo&page=6&sec=geninfo | title=The Palaeontological Association &#124; Reg. Charity No. 1168330 }}</ref> and joint editor of the Systematics Association special volume, ''Donoghue, Philip C. J., and M. Paul Smith''. ''Telling the Evolutionary Time: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record.'' Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-415-27524-8}}.<ref>Review, Systematic Biology, 54, no. 1 (2005): 174-176</ref><ref>Review, Systematic Biology, Feb., 2005, vol. 54, no. 1, p. 174-176</ref><ref name="Review 2004, p. 413-414">Review, Quarterly Review of Biology, Dec., 2004, vol. 79, no. 4, p. 413-414</ref><ref>Review, Geological Magazine, 141, no. 3 (2004): 389-390</ref>

==Publications== '''Books''' *Philip C. J. Donoghue, M. Paul Smith. ''Telling the evolutionary time: Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record''. CRC Press, 2004. *A. K. Higgins, Jane A. Gilotti, M. Paul Smith. ''The Greenland Caledonides: Evolution of the Northeast Margin of Laurentia'', Geological Society of America, 2008.

'''Select peer-reviewed journal articles''' * Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P., Armstrong, H. A. and Smith, M. M. 1992. "Presence of the earliest vertebrate hard tissues in conodonts." ''Science'' 256: 1308–1311. Cited 60 times according to ''Scopus''. * Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P. and Smith, M. M. 1994. "Dentine in conodonts." ''Nature'' 368: 591. Cited 30 times in Scopus. * Sansom, I. J., Smith, M. P. and Smith, M. M. 1996. "Scales of thelodont and shark-like fishes from the Ordovician." ''Nature'' 379: 628–630.Cited 543 times according to Scopus/ * Smith, M. P., Sansom, I. J. and Repetski, J. E. 1996. "Histology of the first fish." ''Nature'' 380: 702–704. Cited 26 times according to ''Scopus'' 729–730. * Thomas, A.T., Smith, M.P. 1998 "Terebellid polychaete burrows from the lower Palaeozoic" ''Palaeontology'' 41 (2), pp.&nbsp;317–333 Cited 7 times according to ''Scopus'' * Donoghue, P.C.J., Smith, M.P. 2001 "The anatomy of Turinia pagei (Powrie), and the phylogenetic status of the Thelodonti" ''Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences'' 92 (1), pp.&nbsp;15–37. Cited 35 times according to ''Scopus''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/people/paul-smith Official website at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, M. Paul}} Category:British palaeontologists Category:Conodont specialists Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)