Krister T. Smith

Krister T. Smith currently works at the Department of Messel Research and Mammalogy, Senckenberg Research Institute. He is a vertebrate paleontologist specializing on lower vertebrates, particularly lizards and snakes and is intensely interested in the mutual relations between evolution and climate change. To do so, he combines detailed morphological, taxonomic, and phylogenetic studies of extinct species with quantitative modeling across episodes of significant climate change. Geographically his studies focus on North America, including the tropics, and Europe during the Paleogene. He also uses lower vertebrates to help understand the environmental context and ecology of early humans.