Philip (Phil) Mannion is one of the leading vertebrate paleontologists of his generation and has made numerous, substantial, and transformative contributions to the field, as well as having the potential to make many more in the future.
Phil’s doctorate focused on the fossil record of sauropodomorph dinosaurs. During this work, he developed two novel metrics to assess fossil record completeness, which have gone on to be adopted by many later studies. These were published in Paleobiology, and each dealt with a different aspect of taxon completeness—with assessments of either skeletal completeness of taxa or their character completeness in phylogenetic analyses. In addition, Phil analyzed the relationship between sauropod fossil occurrences and their paleoenvironmental contexts, also published in Paleobiology, in parallel with a major review of the overall quality of the sauropod fossil record, the latter having been cited extensively as a benchmark in understanding the species richness and distribution of the group (Biological Reviews, more than 200 citations to date). Although Phil’s Ph.D. dealt largely with analytical issues, he also used this opportunity to develop phylogenetic, taxonomic, and anatomical expertise on sauropod dinosaurs, beginning with detailed re-assessments of specimens from Argentina, China, and the United Kingdom. Building on these early publications, Phil is now regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on sauropod taxonomy and evolutionary history, and he has maintained active research agendas in each of these different but complementary fields.
Following his Ph.D., Phil progressed through several highly competitive, prestigious fellowships in the United Kingdom and Germany, which enabled him to follow his own independent research goals and to establish a new research group, leading ultimately to his current position as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and professor at University College London, a globally leading research university. Phil’s research program continues to be cutting edge in his studies of fossil record bias, macroevolutionary pattern and process, and sauropod dinosaur taxonomy and systematics. He has made seminal contributions on the establishment of the terrestrial latitudinal biodiversity gradient in deep time (TREE, almost 400 citations to date), and his work on dinosaurs and crocodilians has offered new insights into the influence of climate on the evolutionary histories and paleobiogeographic patterns of these clades, as well as patterns of extinction and survivorship across the K–Pg boundary. His phylogenetic datasets have become the standard resource for many others, enabling dozens of derivative studies, and his descriptions of new taxa have set a high bar in terms of their detail and quality.
Alongside his own research work, Phil has served as the primary advisor for several cohorts of Ph.D. students (and many master’s degree students), who have themselves made significant contributions to systematics and macroevolution under his tutelage. Some of these have since moved on to postdoctoral positions and are establishing enviable reputations of their own, thereby contributing to the next generation of paleontologists.
The quality of Phil’s research is reflected by his success in attracting external funding, which has come from diverse sources, including UK and German research councils, and has supported varied postdoctoral and Ph.D. positions. He has been one of the driving forces helping to administer the Paleobiology Database and is one of its major contributors, making these data available to the broadest possible audience. Other scientific citizenship roles, such as his work on the editorial boards of Palaeontology and Scientific Reports, reflect his growing service to the subject and the fact that his opinions and counsel are valued highly by colleagues and peers.
In summary, Phil is an exemplary young scientist whose work has made a significant impact on the field of vertebrate paleontology, and he has already played an important role in shaping the development of the subject. He is a valued colleague to many, with a truly international group of collaborators stretching from Argentina to Australia, China, Europe, and North America, and he has exerted a strong positive impact on all those he has worked with. Few of his contemporaries have such extensive lists of achievements, and Phil is a most worthy recipient of the Schuchert Award.
