Michael J. Benton is Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol. He is interested particularly in early reptiles, Triassic dinosaurs and macroevolution, and has published 50 books and over 400 scientific articles. He founded the Masters in Paleobiology degree at Bristol, which has now graduated over 400 students.
David A.T. Harper is a leading expert on fossil brachiopods, numerical methods in paleontology and Phanerozoic stratigraphy. He is Professor of Paleontology, and Principal of Van Mildert College in Durham University. He has published over 15 books and monographs, including a couple of influential textbooks, as well as over 300 scientific articles and, together with Oyvind Hammer, the widely-used software package PAST.