Andrew B. Smith

Andrew Benjamin Smith (born 6 February 1954) is a British palaeontologist, known for his research on the palaeontology of echinoderms. His cladistic classification of the phylum Echinodermata has become standard.

Education and career Growing up in Stonehaven along the eastern coast of Scotland, Smith was inspired to collect fossils after watching an episode of the television programme Blue Peter on fossil collection. In 1968, when on holiday in Shetland, he collected a complete fossil of a Devonian fish (Dipterus valenciennesi)—the specimen was put on display at the Shetland Museum in Lerwick.

From 1973 to 1976, Smith studied geology at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with first class honours. In the summer of 1976, on the recommendation of palaeontologist Euan Clarkson, he received a Carnegie Award to study echinoid fossil distribution in the Aalenian (Inferior Oolite) of the Cheltenham region of Gloucestershire. In 1976, Smith matriculated as a graduate student in the biology department of the University of Exeter. In 1980, under the supervision of David Nichols (1930–2020), Smith received a Ph.D. Smith's Ph.D. thesis involved a breakthrough in echinoid functional morphology through his use of the scanning electron microscope combined with histological preparations and some in vivo research. He also published multiple papers regarding the links between echinoid skeletal histology and soft-tissue anatomy. From 1980 to 1982, he worked at the University of Liverpool as a research assistant to palaeontolgist Christopher R. C. Paul. At the Natural History Museum, London, Smith was a scientific officer from 1982 to 2012, when he retired. During his 30 years of employment at the museum, he published numerous papers on the phylogeny, systematics, and taxonomy of echinoderms, gaining an international reputation as a leading expert on echinoderm palaeontology. In 1985, he participated in Western scientists' first geological traverse of the Tibetan plateau. Furthermore, alongside co-author Claud William Wright, Smith authored a twelve-part series of monographs on British echinoid fossils of the Cretaceous.

Smith's research also deals with methods of inferring patterns in evolutionary development from the fossil record. With biologist Colin Patterson, Smith pointed out possible pitfalls in interpreting the fossil record. Smith and colleagues assessed mass extinctions such as that at the Cretaceous/Tertiary transition from studies on spiny-shelled fossils. He conducted research on the earliest evolutionary origins of echinoderms and establishing the dates of the evolutionary origins of metazoan body morphologies. He also carried out comparative studies on evolution and species diversification using molecular biological methods and dealt with ancient DNA of fossil insects preserved in amber.

Along with his active research output, Smith designed and created a web-based, echinoid-specific approach to systematic zoology and paleontology named "The Echinoid Directory," which was sponsored by the Natural History Museum, London. The website was driven by the international community of echinoid scientists who contributed via a web interface. There were over 2,000 species pages and over 10,000 specimen illustrations. and in 2002 a Fellow of the Royal Society. He received in 2004 the Palaeontological Association's Golden Trilobite Award (for best website) In 2005 he was elected a corresponding member of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft.

Selected publications Journal articles

Book chapters

(Section: Fossil Invertebrates) Books and monographs (The hard shell of an echinoid is called a "test".)

2002