Dr Ivan Sansom

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Senior Lecturer in Palaeobiology

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 41 46147
Fax: +44 (0)121 41 44942
Email: i.j.sansom@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Ivan is a vertebrate palaeobiologist who specialises on the evolution and diversification of Palaeozoic non-tetrapod vertebrates, including conodonts, with a particular focus on the earliest skeletonising fish and the origin of the sharks. Current research primarily focuses on patterns of dispersal within early vertebrates and the influence of their palaeoecology on diversity and extinction.

Qualifications

1992 – PhD, Durham University

1987 – BSc, Aston University

Teaching

Ivan is module leader for:

Earth History and Life
Evolution of Vertebrates

Postgraduate supervision

Ivan Sansom is currently undertaking research projects in the following areas:

The Ordovician radiation of fish: a Gondwanan perspective on diversification in fluctuating palaeoenvironments
Cambro-Ordovician fish from North America
The palaeobiology of Ordovician fish from South America
The origins and early evolution of vertebrate biomineralisation
The origin of the gnathostomes

Dr Sansom welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral researchers in his areas of interest.

Other activities

2013 - 2016, Director of Education for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University 麻豆精选

2012 - 2013, Academic Keeper, Lapworth Museum of Geology, University 麻豆精选

2010 - 2015, Editorial board Journal of the Geological Society

2008 - 2011, Head of Education, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Golding, ML, Wheeley, JR, Sun, YD, Orchard, MJ & Sansom, IJ 2025, '', Journal of the Geological Society.

Schnetz, L, Lanzetti, A, Jones, A, Dearden, R, Lautenschlager, S, Giles, S, Johanson, Z & Sansom, I 2025, '', Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Schnetz, L, Dunne, EM, Feichtinger, I, Butler, RJ, Coates, MI & Sansom, IJ 2024, '', Paleobiology, pp. 1-14.

Schnetz, L, Butler, R, Coates, MI & Sansom, I 2024, '', Royal Society Open Science, vol. 11, no. 1, 231451.

Dearden, RP, Jones, AS, Giles, S, Lanzetti, A, Grohganz, M, Johanson, Z, Lautenschlager, S, Randle, E, Donoghue, PCJ & Sansom, I 2024, '', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 291, no. 2019, 20232258.

Larkin, N, Henton, T, Etches, S, Wright, A, Chen, T-Y, Driscoll, L, Shelton, R & Sansom, I 2023, '', Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.

Dearden, R, Lanzetti, A, Giles, S, Johanson, Z, Jones, A, Lautenschlager, S, Randle, E & Sansom, I 2023, '', Nature.

Schnetz, L, Butler, RJ, Coates, MI & Sansom, IJ 2022, '', Palaeontology, vol. 65, no. 4, e12616.

Andreev, P, Sansom, I, Li, Q, Zhao, W, Wang, J, Wang, C-C, Peng, L, Jia, L, Qiao, T & Zhu, M 2022, '', Nature, vol. 609, no. 7929, pp. 969-974.

Andreev, P, Sansom, I, Li, Q, Zhao, W, Wang, J, Wang, C-C, Peng, L, Jia, L, Qiao, T & Zhu, M 2022, '', Nature, vol. 609, no. 7929, pp. 964-968.

Ezcurra, M, Butler, R, Maidment, S, Sansom, I, Meade, L & Radley, J 2021, '', Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 191, no. 1, pp. 113-149.

Dearden, RP, den Blaauwen, JL, Sansom, IJ, Burrow, CJ, Davidson, RG, Newman, MJ, Ko, A & Brazeau, MD 2021, '', Papers in Palaeontology, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 1949-1976.

Andreev, P, Zhao, W, Wang, N, Smith, M, Li, Q, Cui, X, Zhu, M & Sansom, I 2020, '', PLoSONE, vol. 15, no. 2, e0228589.

Hedge, J, Shillito, A, Davies, N, Butler, R & Sansom, I 2019, '', Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 130, no. 1, pp. 103-111.

Coates, M, Finarelli, J, Sansom, I, Andreev, P, Criswell, K, Tietjen, K, Rivers, M & La Riviere, P 2018, '', Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, vol. 285, no. 1870, 20172418.