Dr. habil. Krister T. Smith

Krister T. Smith - Research Profile

In brief

I’m a vertebrate paleobiologist specializing on lower vertebrates, particularly lizards and snakes. I’m intensely interested in the mutual relations between evolution and climate change: how different clades respond to warming or cooling, for example, and conversely how we can reconstruct ancient climates using the species composition of fossil assemblages. To do this, I combine detailed morphological, taxonomic, and phylogenetic studies of extinct species with quantitative modeling across episodes of significant climate change. Geographically my studies focus on North America, including the tropics, and Europe during the Paleogene. I also use lower vertebrates to help understand the environmental context and ecology of early humans.

Selected recent publications:

Chuliver, M., A. Scanferla & K.T. Smith (2022) Live birth in a 47-million-year-old snake. The Science of Nature - Naturwissenschaften 109: 56. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., B.-A.S. Bhullar & J.I. Bloch (2022) New diminutive Eocene lizard reveals high K-Pg survivorship and taxonomic diversity of stem xenosaurs in North America. American Museum Novitates 3986: 1-36. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., O. Comay, L. Maul, F. Wegmüller, J.M. Le Tensorer & T. Dayan (2021) A model of digestive tooth corrosion in lizards: experimental tests and taphonomic implications. Scientific Reports 11: 12877. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & J. Habersetzer (2021) The anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, and autecology of the carnivorous lizard “Saniwa” feisti from the Eocene of Messel, Germany. Comptes Rendus Palevol 20(23): 441-506. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer, eds. (2018) Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. Get book

Portrait

ORCiD ID

ORCID iD icon0000-0003-1442-2944

Professional positions

2023 - present, Head of Department, Messel Research, Senckenberg Research Institute

2023 - present, Curator of Messel Vertebrates, Senckenberg Research Institute

2019 - present, Lecturer (Privatdozent), Faculty of Biosciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt

2016 - 2023, Deputy Head of Department, Messel Research and Mammalogy, Senckenberg Research Institute

2011 - present, Head of Section, Paleoherpetology, Senckenberg Research Institute

2010 - 2022, Co-speaker for research area (Evolution &) Biogeography, Senckenberg Research Institute

2008 - 2011, Postdoctoral fellow, Senckenberg Research Institute

2006 - 2008, Postdoctoral fellow, Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin

Education

2019, Dr. habil. in Evolutionary Biology, Goethe University, Frankfurt

2006, Ph.D., Department of Geology & Geophysics, Yale University

2000, B.A., Department of Geology & Geophysics, The University of California at Berkeley

Contact information

Dept. of Messel Research

Senckenberg Research Institute

Senckenberganlage 25

D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

Germany

Tel. +49-69-7542 1218, Fax +49-69-7542 1203, Email

Palaeopython with prey

The Messel Pit

The Messel Pit is a UNESCO World Heritage site preserving fossils of breathtaking quality. Its age, about 48 Ma, places it in the Eocene Climatic Optimum, the warmest sustained interval of the last 66 Ma. The Eocene was the last major “greenhouse” phase of Earth’s climate. Messel gives us remarkable insight into a terrestrial ecosystem at this time, and may hold clues to our future. My work at Messel encompasses the taxonomy of the lizards and snakes, taphonomy, and synthetic analyses of community structure, such as species diversity.

Selected publications

Chuliver, M., A. Scanferla & K.T. Smith (2022) Live birth in a 47-million-year-old snake. The Science of Nature - Naturwissenschaften 109: 56. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & J. Habersetzer (2021) The anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, and autecology of the carnivorous lizard “Saniwa” feisti from the Eocene of Messel, Germany. Comptes Rendus Palevol 20(23): 441-506. Get PDF

Zaher, H. & K.T. Smith (2020) Pythons in the Eocene of Europe reveal a much older divergence of the group in sympatry with boas. Biology Letters 16(12): 20200735. Get PDF

Scanferla, A. & K.T. Smith (2020) Exquisitely preserved snake fossils of Messel: insight into the evolution, biogeography, habitat preferences and sensory ecology of early boas. Diversity 12(3): 100. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer, eds. (2018) Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. Get book

Oreithyia

Biogeography, climate, and Paleogene squamates

The Eocene is bounded by dramatic intervals of climate change. It begins with the short-lived Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, when temperatures rose rapidly, especially at high latitude. At its close, temperature plummeted, inaugurating the “icehouse” climate of today. As poikilotherms, squamate reptiles are particularly sensitive to climate change. I am developing a data-set on squamate assemblages that bracket these episodes of rapid climate change. On the one hand, these data help us understand how species responded to climate change and how it influenced modern patterns of biodiversity. On the other hand, these assemblages allow us to reconstruct ancient climates. This specimen-based work relies on detailed morphological studies and quantitative models.

Selected publications

Smith, K.T. & J.A. Gauthier (2013) Early Eocene lizards of the Wasatch Formation near Bitter Creek, Wyoming: diversity and paleoenvironment during an interval of global warming. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54: 135-230. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2013) New contraints on the evolution of the snake clades Ungaliophiinae, Loxocemidae and Colubridae (Serpentes), with comments on the fossil history of erycine boids in North America. Zoologischer Anzeiger 252: 157-182. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2011) The evolution of mid-latitude faunas during the Eocene: Late Eocene lizards of the Medicine Pole Hills reconsidered. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52: 3-105. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2009) A new lizard assemblage from the earliest Eocene (zone Wa0) of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.: Biogeography during the warmest interval of the Cenozoic. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 7: 299-358. Get PDF

Oreithyia

Neotropical Paleogene vertebrates

Most of what we know about terrestrial life in the Paleogene in the northern hemisphere comes from the middle latitudes. Particularly in North America, these latitudes not only contain huge deposits of fossil-bearing sedimentary rock but they are also arid, affording a lot of exposure. However, the tropical latitudes host the greatest biodiversity today. Therefore, our understanding of Cenozoic ecosystems will remain highly incomplete without tropical assemblages. My colleagues, Eduardo Jiménez-Hidalgo and Rosalía Guerrero-Arenas from Universidad del Mar, and I have been exploring southern Mexico in search of vertebrate fossils and have discovered the first Paleogene localities in the tropics of North America. Our work was supported, in part, by the National Geographic Society and CONACYT. These fossils from “World’s End” provide the first view of ecosystems contemporaneous with well-known localities in mid-latitude North America.

Selected publications

Jiménez-Hidalgo, E., R. Guerrero-Arenas & K.T. Smith (2018) Gregorymys veloxikua, the oldest pocket gopher (Rodentia: Geomyidae), and the early diversification of Geomyoidea. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 25: 427-439.Get PDF

Jiménez-Hidalgo, E., K.T. Smith, R. Guerrero-Arenas & J. Alvarado-Ortega (2015) The first late Eocene continental faunal assemblage from tropical North America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 57: 39-48. Get PDF

Qesem Cave

Zooarcheology in the Near East

The human lineage arose in Africa, but hominin species migrated several times out of Africa, ultimately colonizing all major land masses except Antarctica. The Levant forms the nexus between Africa and Eurasia and thus an important bridge in the early expansions of human species. The Levant is also rich in fossil sites containing prehistoric hominins. Such sites, frequently but not exclusively found in caves, often yield concentrations of microvertebrate bone collected by other predators that lived there at about the same time. Mixed in with human artefacts, the microvertebrate species provide important clues to the environment in which ancient hominins lived as well as clues to human behavior and ecology. Together with my colleague Lutz Maul, I work on microvertebrates from sites such as Qesem Cave in Israel (excavation run by Avi Gopher and Ran Barkai from Tel Aviv University), using taxonomic and quantitative ecological methods.

Selected publications

Smith, K.T., O. Comay, L. Maul, F. Wegmüller, J.M. Le Tensorer & T. Dayan (2021) A model of digestive tooth corrosion in lizards: experimental tests and taphonomic implications. Scientific Reports 11: 12877. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., L.C. Maul, F. Flemming, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2016) The microvertebrates of Qesem Cave: A comparison of the two concentrations. Quaternary International 398: 233-245. Get PDF

Maul, L.C., A.A. Bruch, K.T. Smith, G. Shenbrot, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2016) Palaeoecological and biostratigraphical implications of the microvertebrates of Qesem Cave. Quaternary International 398: 219-232. Get PDF

Maul, L.C., K.T. Smith, G. Shenbrot, A. Bruch, F. Wegmüller & J.-M. le Tensorer (2015) Microvertebrates from unit G/layer 17 of the archaeological site of Hummal (El Kowm, Central Syria). Preliminary results. Le Anthropologie 119: 676-686. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., L.C. Maul, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2013) To catch a chameleon, or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave, Israel. Jounal of Archaeological Science 40: 3326-3339. Get PDF

Peer-reviewed journals

2023

Georgalis, G.L., B. Mennecart & K.T. Smith (2023) First fossil record of Varanus (Reptilia, Squamata) from Switzerland and the earliest occurrences of the genus in Europe. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 116: 9. Get PDF

2022

Chuliver, M., A. Scanferla & K.T. Smith (2022) Live birth in a 47-million-year-old snake. The Science of Nature - Naturwissenschaften 109: 56. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & A. Scanferla (2022) More than one large constrictor snake lurked around Paleolake Messel. Palaeontographica A (Paläozoologie) 323: 75-103. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., B.-A.S. Bhullar & J.I. Bloch (2022) New diminutive Eocene lizard reveals high K-Pg survivorship and taxonomic diversity of stem xenosaurs in North America. American Museum Novitates 3986: 1-36. Get PDF

2021

Smith, K.T. (2021) The Messel Pit: window into a greenhouse world. Geoconservation Research 4: 547-556. Get PDF

Georgalis, G.L., M. Rabi & K.T. Smith (2021) Taxonomic revision of the snakes of the genera Palaeopython and Paleryx (Serpentes, Constrictores) from the Paleogene of Europe. Swiss Journal of Paleontology 140: 18. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2021) It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Oculudentavis! Current Biology 31: R950-R952. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., O. Comay, L. Maul, F. Wegmüller, J.M. Le Tensorer & T. Dayan (2021) A model of digestive tooth corrosion in lizards: experimental tests and taphonomic implications. Scientific Reports 11: 12877. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & J. Habersetzer (2021) The anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, and autecology of the carnivorous lizard “Saniwa” feisti from the Eocene of Messel, Germany. Comptes Rendus Palevol 20(23): 441-506. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & A. Scanferla (2021) A nearly complete skeleton of the oldest definitive erycine boid (Messel, Germany). Geodiversitas 43(1): 1-24. Get PDF

2020

Zaher, H. & K.T. Smith (2020) Pythons in the Eocene of Europe reveal a much older divergence of the group in sympatry with boas. Biology Letters 16(12): 20200735. Get PDF

Scanferla, A. & K.T. Smith (2020) Additional anatomical information on the Eocene minute boas Messelophis variatus and Rieppelophis ermannorum (Messel Formation, Germany). Vertebrate Zoology 70(4): 615-620. Get PDF

Georgalis, G.L. & K.T. Smith (2020) Constrictores Oppel, 1811 – the available name for the taxonomic group uniting boas and pythons. Vertebrate Zoology 70(3): 291-304. Get PDF

Scanferla, A. & K.T. Smith (2020) Exquisitely preserved snake fossils of Messel: insight into the evolution, biogeography, habitat preferences and sensory ecology of early boas. Diversity 12(3): 100. Get PDF

Palci, A., M. Hutchinson, M.W. Caldwell, K.T. Smith & M.S.Y. Lee (2020) The homologies and evolutionary reduction of the pelvis and hind limbs in snakes, with the first report of ossified pelvic vestiges in an anomalepidid (Liotyphlops beui). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 188(2): 630-652. Get PDF

2019

Čerňanský, A. & K.T. Smith (2019) The first juvenile specimen of Eolacerta (Squamata: Eolacertidae) from the early-middle Eocene of the Messel Pit (Germany). Comptes Rendus Palevol 18(7): 735-745. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., A. Schwermann & M. Wilmsen (2019) The oldest articulated mosasaurian remains (earliest Turonian) from Germany. Geologie und Paläontologie in Westfalen 91: 3-23. Get PDF

2018

Wedmann, S., D. Uhl, T. Lehmann, R. Garrouste, A. Nel, B. Gomez, K.T. Smith & S.F.K. Schaal (2018) The Konservat-Lagerstätte Menat (Paleocene; France) – an overview and new insights. Acta Geologica 16(2): 189-213. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., B.-A.S. Bhullar, G. Köhler & J. Habersetzer (2018) The only known jawed vertebrate with four eyes and the Bauplan of the pineal complex. Current Biology 28(7): 1101-1107. Get PDF Commentary

Kunin, W., J. Harte, F. He, R.T. Jobe, A. Ostling, C. Polce, A. Šizling, A.B. Smith, K.T. Smith, S. Smart, D. Storch, E. Tjørve, K.-I. Ugland, W. Ulrich & V. Varma (2018) Upscaling biodiversity: estimating the Species-Area Relationship from small samples. Ecological Monographs 88: 170-187. Get PDF

Čerňanský, A. & K.T. Smith (2018) Eolacertidae: a new extinct clade of lizards from the Palaeogene; with comments on the origin of the dominant European reptile group – Lacertidae. Historical Biology 30: 994-1014. Get PDF

Jiménez-Hidalgo, E., R. Guerrero-Arenas & K.T. Smith (2018) Gregorymys veloxikua, the oldest pocket gopher (Rodentia: Geomyidae), and the early diversification of Geomyoidea. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 25: 427-439. Get PDF

2017

Smith, K.T. (2017) The squamation of the Eocene stem-basilisk Geiseltaliellus maarius (Squamata: Iguanidae: Corytophaninae) from Messel, Germany. Salamandra 50: 519-530. Get PDF

Pokrant, F., C. Kindler, M. Vamberger, K.T. Smith & U. Fritz (2017) Grass snakes (Natrix natrix, N. astreptophora) mimicking cobras display a ‘fossil behavior.’ Vertebrate Zoology 67(2): 261-269. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2017) First crocodile-tailed lizard (Squamata: Pan-Shinisaurus) from the Paleogene of Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37: e1313743. Get PDF

2016

Smith, K.T. & A. Scanferla (2016) Fossil snake preserving three trophic levels and evidence for an ontogenetic dietary shift. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 96: 589-599. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., L.C. Maul, F. Flemming, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2016) The microvertebrates of Qesem Cave: A comparison of the two concentrations. Quaternary International 398: 233-245. Get PDF

Maul, L.C., A.A. Bruch, K.T. Smith, G. Shenbrot, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2016) Palaeoecological and biostratigraphical implications of the microvertebrates of Qesem Cave. Quaternary International 398: 219-232. Get PDF

Ceríaco, L.M., E.E. Gutiérrez, A. Dubois et al. (2016) Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences. Zootaxa 4196: 435-445. Get PDF

Čerňanský, A.C., J. Klembara & K.T. Smith (2016) Fossil lizard from central Europe resolves the origin of large body size and herbivory in giant Canary Island lacertids. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176: 861-877. Get PDF

Blasco, R., J. Rosell, K.T. Smith, L. Maul, P. Sañudo, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2016) Tortoises as a dietary supplement for the Middle Pleistocene hominids of Qesem Cave, Israel. Quaternary Science Reviews 133: 165-182. Get PDF

Scanferla, C.A., K.T. Smith & S.F.K. Schaal (2016) Revision of the cranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of the Eocene minute boas Messelophis variatus and Messelophis ermannorum (Serpentes, Booidea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176: 182-206. Get PDF

2015

Maul, L.C., K.T. Smith, G. Shenbrot, A. Bruch, F. Wegmüller & J.-M. le Tensorer (2015) Microvertebrates from unit G/layer 17 of the archaeological site of Hummal (El Kowm, Central Syria). Preliminary results. Le Anthropologie 119: 676-686. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & M. Wuttke (2015) Avian pellets from the late Oligocene of Enspel, Germany – ecological interactions in deep time. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 95: 103-113. Get PDF

Jiménez-Hidalgo, E., K.T. Smith, R. Guerrero-Arenas & J. Alvarado-Ortega (2015) The first late Eocene continental faunal assemblage from tropical North America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 57: 39-48. Get PDF

2014

Čerňanský, A.C., K.T. Smith & J. Klembara (2014) Variation in the position of the jugal medial ridge among lizards (Reptilia: Squamata): its functional and taxonomic significance. The Anatomical Record 297: 2262-2272. Get PDF

2013

Horáček, I., L.C. Maul, K.T. Smith, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2013) Bat remains (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from the Middle Pleistocene site of Qesem Cave, Israel: first evidence of a Pleistocene fruit bat in the Near East. Palaeontologia Electronica 16.3.23A. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & J.A. Gauthier (2013) Early Eocene lizards of the Wasatch Formation near Bitter Creek, Wyoming: diversity and paleoenvironment during an interval of global warming. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54(2): 135-230. Get PDF [corrigendum]

Smith, K.T., L.C. Maul, R. Barkai & A. Gopher (2013) To catch a chameleon, or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave, Israel. Jounal of Archaeological Science 40(8): 3326-3339. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2013) New contraints on the evolution of the snake clades Ungaliophiinae, Loxocemidae and Colubridae (Serpentes), with comments on the fossil history of erycine boids in North America. Zoologischer Anzeiger 252: 157-182. Get PDF

2012

Parham, J.F., P.C.J. Donoghue, C.J. Bell, T.D. Calway, J.J. Head, P.A. Holroyd, J.G. Inoue, R.B. Irmis, W.G. Joyce, D.T. Ksepka, J.S.L. Patane, N.D. Smith, J.E. Tarver, M. Van Tuinen, Z.H. Yang, K.D. Angielczyk, J. Greenwood, C.A. Hipsley, L. Jacobs, P.J. Mackovicky, J. Müller, K.T. Smith, J.M. Theodor, R.C.M. Warnock & M.J. Benton (2012) Best practices for applying paleontological data to molecular divergence dating analyses. Systematic Biology 61: 346-359. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & M. Wuttke (2012) From tree to shining sea: Taphonomy of the arboreal lizard Geiseltaliellus maarius from Messel, Germany. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 92(1): 45-65. Get PDF

2011

Smith, K.T. (2011) The phylogenetic affinity of the fossil agamid lizard Tinosaurus. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 57: 9-28. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2011) The long-term history of dispersal among lizards in the early Eocene: New evidence from a microvertebrate assemblage in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, U.S.A. Palaeontology 54(6): 1243-1270. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2011) Oreithyia, a replacement name for Orithyia Smith, 2011, nec Orithyia Fabricius, 1798. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52(2): 273. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2011) The evolution of mid-latitude faunas during the Eocene: Late Eocene lizards of the Medicine Pole Hills reconsidered. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 52(1): 3-105. Get PDF

Maul, L., K.T. Smith, R. Barkai, A. Barash, P. Karkanas, R. Shahack-Gross & A. Gopher (2011) Microfaunal remains at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel: preliminary results on small vertebrates, environment and biostratigraphy. Journal of Human Evolution 60(4): 464-480. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., S. Schaal, W. Sun & C.T. Li (2011) Acrodont iguanians (Squamata) from the middle Eocene of the Huadian Basin of Jilin Province, China, with a critique of the taxon “Tinosaurus”. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 49(1): 69-84. Get PDF

2009

Smith, K.T. (2009) Eocene lizards of the clade Geiseltaliellus from Messel and Geiseltal, Germany, and the early radiation of Iguanidae (Reptilia: Squamata). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 50(2): 219-306. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. (2009) A new lizard assemblage from the earliest Eocene (zone Wa0) of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.: Biogeography during the warmest interval of the Cenozoic. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 7(3): 299-358. Get PDF [corrigendum]

2008

Smith, K.T. (2008) On the measurement of beta diversity: An analog of the species–area relation for point sources. Evolutionary Ecology Research 10(7): 987-1006. Get PDF

Ifrim, C., M.-C. Buchy, K.T. Smith & S. Giersch (2008) Paleoenvironment and preliminary description of early Turonian (Late Cretaceous) aquatic squamates from Vallecillo, north-eastern Mexico. Fort Hays Studies 3: 47-62. Get PDF

Smith, K.T., B.-A.S. Bhullar & P.A. Holroyd (2008) Earliest African record of the Varanus stem-clade (Squamata: Varanidae) from the early Oligocene of Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(3): 909-913. Get PDF

Bhullar, B.-A.S. & K.T. Smith (2008) A helodermatid dentary from the Miocene of Florida, the evolution of the dentary in Helodermatidae, and comments on dentary morphology in Varanoidea. Journal of Herpetology 42(2): 286-302. Get PDF

Smith, K.T. & M.-C. Buchy (2008) A new aigialosaur (Squamata: Anguimorpha) with soft-tissue preservation from the Upper Cretaceous of Nuevo León, Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(1): 85-94. Get PDF

2006

Smith, K.T. (2006) A diverse new assemblage of late Eocene squamates (Reptilia) from the Chadron Formation, North Dakota, U.S.A. Palaeontologia Electronica 9.2.5A. Get PDF

2005

Stinnesbeck, W., C. Ifrim, H. Schmidt, A. Rindfleisch, M.-C. Buchy, E. Frey, A. H. González González, H. Porras-Muzquiz, L. Cavin & K.T. Smith (2005) A new lithographic limestone deposit in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Group at El Rosario, county of Múzquiz, Coahuila, northeastern Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas 22: 401-418. Get PDF

Buchy, M.-C., K.T. Smith, E. Frey, W. Stinnesbeck, A. H. González González, C. Ifrim, J. G. López-Oliva & H. Porras-Muzquiz (2005) Annotated catalogue of marine squamates (Reptilia) from the Upper Cretaceous of northeastern Mexico. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 84: 195-206. Get PDF

2003

Smith, K.T. & P.A. Holroyd (2003) Rare taxa, biostratigraphy, and the Wasatchian-Bridgerian boundary in North America. Geological Society of America Special Paper 369: 501-511. Get PDF

2001

Smith, K.T. (2001) Reassessing the Lambdotherium first appearance datum (Wasatchian, early Eocene) in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. PaleoBios 21: 1-11. Get PDF

1999

Guralnick, R. & K. Smith (1999) Historical and biomechanical analysis of integration and dissociation in molluscan feeding, with special emphasis on the true limpets (Patellogastropoda: Gastropoda). Journal of Morphology 241: 175-195. Get PDF

Books

Smith, K.T., S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer, eds. (2018) Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. Get book

Schaal, S.F.K., K.T. Smith & J. Habersetzer, eds. (2018) Messel: Ein fossiles Tropenökosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. Get book

Book chapters

Smith, K.T. & G. Georgalis (2022) The diversity and distribution of Palaeogene snakes: A review, with comments on vertebral sufficiency; pp. 55-84 in press in D. Gower & H. Zaher (eds.). The Origin and Early Evolutionary History of Snakes (Systematics Association Special Volume 90). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. Get book Appendix 1: Catalog of Paleogene Snakes Appendix 2: Complete List of Paleogene Snake Occurrences

Smith, K.T. (2020) Pan-Iguania; pp. 1145-1148 in K. de Queiroz, P.D. Cantino & J.A. Gauthier (eds.), Phylonyms: A Companion to the PhyloCode. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

Smith, K.T. (2020) Pan-Iguanidae; pp. 1155-1158 in K. de Queiroz, P.D. Cantino & J.A. Gauthier (eds.), Phylonyms: A Companion to the PhyloCode. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

Smith, K.T. (2020) Pan-Acrodonta; pp. 1165-1168 in K. de Queiroz, P.D. Cantino & J.A. Gauthier (eds.), Phylonyms: A Companion to the PhyloCode. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.

Smith, K.T. (2019) The evolution of Helodermatidae; pp. 62-67 in H.-J. Schwandt (ed.), The Gila Monster: Heloderma suspectum. Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Smith, K.T. (2019) Heloderma in der Evolution; pp. 62-67 in H.-J. Schwandt (ed.), Die Gila-Krustenechse: Heloderma suspectum. Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Uhl, D., L. Kunzmann, C. Hertler, R.-D. Kahlke, J.-A. Keiler, P. Königshof, O. Kullmer, S. Schaal, K. Smith, M.M. Solórzona Kraemer, M. Stebich, O. Tietz & M. Wilmsen (2018) Frankfurt/Dresden/Görlitz: palaeontological collections of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung; pp. 209-240 in L.A. Beck & U. Joger (eds.), Paleontological Collections of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Springer, Heidelberg.

Wedmann, S., J. Habersetzer, T. Lehmann, I. Ruf, S.F.K. Schaal & K.T. Smith (2018) Messel research – methods und concepts; pp. 34-41 in K.T. Smith, S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Smith, K.T., A. Čerňanský, A. Scanferla & S.F.K. Schaal (2018) Lizards and snakes – warmth-loving sunbathers; pp. 122-147 in K.T. Smith, S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Cadena, E.A., W.G. Joyce & K.T. Smith (2018) Turtles – armored survivalists; pp. 148-157 in K.T. Smith, S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Smith, K.T., T. Lehmann, G. Mayr, N. Micklich, R. Rabenstein & S. Wedmann (2018) The Messel ecosystem; pp. 302-313 in K.T. Smith, S.F.K. Schaal & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Wedmann, S., J. Habersetzer, T. Lehmann, I. Ruf, S.F.K. Schaal & K.T. Smith (2018) Messelforschung – Methoden und Begriffe; pp. 34-41 in S.F.K. Schaal, K.T. Smith & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: Ein fossiles Tropenökosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Smith, K.T., A. Čerňanský, A. Scanferla & S.F.K. Schaal (2018) Echsen und Schlangen – wärmeliebene Sonnenanbeter; pp. 122-147 in S.F.K. Schaal, K.T. Smith & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: Ein fossiles Tropenökosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Cadena, E.A., W.G. Joyce & K.T. Smith (2018) Schildkröten – gepanzerte Überlebenskünstler; pp. 148-157 in S.F.K. Schaal, K.T. Smith & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: Ein fossiles Tropenökosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Smith, K.T., T. Lehmann, G. Mayr, N. Micklich, R. Rabenstein & S. Wedmann (2018) Das Messeler Ökosystem; pp. 302-313 in S.F.K. Schaal, K.T. Smith & J. Habersetzer (eds.), Messel: Ein fossiles Tropenökosystem. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.

Buchy, M.-C. & K.T. Smith (2011) New portions of the holotype of Vallecillosaurus donrobertoi (Squamata, Mosasauroidea) from the early Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) of Mexico; pp. 47–55 in J. Calvo, J. Porfiri, B. Gonzalez Riga & D. Dos Santos (eds.), Paleontología y dinosaurios desde América Latina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.

Popular science

Smith, K.T. (2021) Messel. In: Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.

Smith, K.T. (2020) Rageryx schmidi: Neu beschriebene Messel-Art ehrt Dietmar Schmid. Natur – Forschung – Museum 150: 177-179.

Smith, K.T. & A. Schwermann (2019) Die ältesten artikulierten Mosasaurier-Überreste aus Deutschland. Archäologie in Westfalen-Lippe 2018: 26-28.

Smith, K.T. (2018) Lizards and skeletons. Flicker Bulletin 36.

Franzen, J.L., K. Smith & J. Habersetzer (2017) Krokodil gegen Urpferd. Natur – Forschung – Museum 147(1/2): 34-43.

Smith, K.T. (2016) Eat [and] be eaten: the ancient ecosystem of Messel. pp. 102-105 in The Munich Show. Hidden Treasures of the Museums. Wachholtz, Kiel.

Cadena, E. & K.T. Smith (2016) Vorstoß ins Mark: REM-Technologie macht 48 Millionen Jahre alte Knochenzellen und Blutgefäße sichtbar. Natur – Forschung – Museum 146(3/4): 78-85.

Maul, L.C. & K.T. Smith (2014) Von Mäusen, Echsen und Menschen. Natur – Forschung – Museum 144(7/8): 284-285.

Smith, K.T. & S. Wedmann (2013) Unerforschte Vielfalt in der Grube Messel. Natur – Forschung – Museum 143(7/8): 230-235.

Smith, K.T. (2010) Ein außergewöhnlicher Fund aus der Grube Messel. Senckenberg Jahrbuch 2007-2008: 35.

Below you'll find some translations into English of generally older, morphological works. They are available freely to download and use for scholarly purposes.

From the German

Hallermann, J. 1994. Zur Morphologie der Ethmoidalregion der Iguania (Squamata) – eine vergleichend-anatomische Untersuchung. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 35: 1-133. Get PDF

Hemmer, H. 1971. Intraspezifische Unterschiede der relativen Hirngrösse beim Löwen (Panthera leo L.). Experientia 27(12): 1500-1501. Get PDF

Kornhuber, A. 1893. Carsosaurus Marchesettii, ein neuer fossiler Lacertilier aus den Kreideschichten des Karstes bei Komen. Abhandlungen der k.k. (kaiserlich-königlichen) geologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien 17(3): 1-15. Get PDF

Kornhuber, A. 1901. Opetiosaurus Bucchichi. Eine neue fossile Eidechse aus der unteren Kreide von Lesina in Dalmatien. Abhandlungen der k.k. (kaiserlich-königlichen) geologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien 17(5): 1-24. Get PDF

Kuhn, O. 1944. Weitere Lacertilier, insbesondere Iguanidae aus dem Eozän des Geiseltales. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 23(3/4): 360-367. Get PDF

Meyer, H.v. 1860. Acteosaurus Tommasinii aus dem schwarzen Kreide-Schiefer von Comen am Karste. Palaeontographica (Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte der Vorwelt) 7(4): 223-231. Get PDF

Stritzke, R. 1983. Saniwa feisti n. sp., ein Varanide (Lacertilia, Reptilia) aus dem Mittel-Eozän von Messel bei Darmstadt. Senckenbergiana Lethaea 64(5/6): 497-508. Get PDF

From the Danish

Jensen, A.S. 1901. Om Ophiopsiseps nasutus du Bocage og dens stilling i reptiliernes system. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den Naturhistoriske Forening i Kjøbenhavn 2: 317-328. Get PDF

From the Swedish

Retzius, A. 1830 [1831]. Anatomisk undersökning öfver några delar af Python bivittatus jemte comparativa anmärkningar. Kongliga Vetenskapsacademiens Handlingar 1830: 1-33. Get PDF

From the French

Hoffstetter, R. 1943. Varanidae et Necrosauridae fossiles. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle 15(3): 134-141. Get PDF