Kevin Padian

Kevin Padian is an American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. He is Professor of Integrative Biology and Curator of the Museum of Paleontology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught from 1980 to 2020. Padian's research focuses on vertebrate evolution, especially the origins of flight, the paleobiology of pterosaurs, the emergence of dinosaurs across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, the evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs, the growth dynamics of dinosaurs and related fossil reptiles, and the interpretation of fossilized footprints.[2] He has also focused on the history of evolutionary thought, particularly surrounding the Victorian Age and the European Enlightenment, regarding Transcendentalism and the evolving interpretation of morphology, as well as the emergence of the theory of evolution by Darwin and his contemporaries. Padian has authored and co-authored nearly 150 scientific articles and some 200 reviews, perspectives, and popular articles, and has co-edited and co-written ten books.