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British palaeontologist and herpetologist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susan Elizabeth Evans is a British palaeontologist and herpetologist. She is the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.[1]
She received a BSc in Zoology at Bedford College in 1974, and in 1977 a PhD in vertebrate palaeontology from the University College London. In 1980 she was Assistant Professor in biology at the University College of Bahrain and went continued as a lecturer in Anatomy at Middlesex Hospital Medical School. She was also Senior Lecturer with the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at the University College, London[2] In 2003, she became a Professor of Vertebrate Morphology and Palaeontology at University College London.
Her research focuses on the evolution of key morphological features in lizards, amphibians and their extinct relatives.[3] In particular the research focuses on the implications of the above with regards to macroevolution, phylogenetic relationships, function, palaeoecology, and biogeography.[4] Along with Michael Benton and Jacques Gauthier, she was one of the pioneers of applying cladistic methodology to reptile (especially Lepidosaurian) evolutionary relationships.[5]
Beginning in 2001, Dr Evans became involved in the Mahajanga Basin Project which was conducted jointly with the University of Antananarivo. In investigating the Maevarano Formation, the researchers established Madagascar as having some of the most complete and scientifically significant fossils of Late Cretaceous vertebrates in the southern hemisphere.[6] Along with her colleague Marc E. H. Jones, Evans worked on the evolutionary relationships of the giant prehistoric frog Beelzebufo ampinga that was discovered by Dr David Krause of Stony Brook University.[7][8][9]
Professor Evans is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society. Her research has also been supported by the Royal Society, The Leverhulme Trust, the National Geographic Society, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.[1]
In 2008, a newly described Eocene Agamid lizard Vastanagama susani was named in her honour.[10] The squamatan clade "Evansauria" has also been named after her.[11] In 2024, Martin-Silverstone et al. named the darwinopteran pterosaur species Ceoptera evansae after her.[12]
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