Thomas Stainforth Kemp is a British zoologist and palaeontologist. He is known for his work on the evolution of

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

, and particularly for identifying the criteria by which proto-mammals (

synapsids Synapsida is a diverse group of tetrapod vertebrates that includes all mammals and their extinct relatives. It is one of the two major clades of the group Amniota, the other being the more diverse group Sauropsida (which includes all extant rept ...

) should be classified as mammals. He is an emeritus fellow of

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, and he was the curator of the zoological collections in the

Oxford University Museum of Natural History The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the univers ...

until his retirement in 2009. As well as many academic papers, and four academic books on palaeontology and evolution, Kemp has written three books in the ''

Very Short Introductions ''Very Short Introductions'' (''VSI'') is a book series published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). The books are concise introductions to particular subjects, intended for a general audience but written by experts. Most are under 200-page ...

'' series.

Bibliography

* Studies in vertebrate evolution (1972: Oliver & Boyd), co-edited with Kenneth Alan Joysey * Mammal-like reptiles and the origin of mammals (1982: Academic Press) * Fossils and evolution (1999: OUP) * The origin and evolution of mammals (2005: OUP) * The origin of higher taxa: palaeobiological, developmental, and ecological perspectives (2016: OUP & Chicago University Press) * Mammals: A Very Short Introduction (2017: OUP) * Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction (2019: OUP) * Amphibians: A Very Short Introduction (2021: OUP)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, T. S. Living people Fellows of St John's College, Oxford English palaeontologists English zoologists Year of birth missing (living people)