Clive Finlayson

Clive Finlayson is a Professor at the University of Gibraltar and has held academic roles including Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and Visiting Professor at Liverpool John Moores University. He has been Director of The Gibraltar Museum since 1991, leading multidisciplinary research on Pleistocene ecology and human evolution. His education includes a DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford (1980) and an MSc in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester (1991).

His research focuses on Neanderthal extinction, biogeography of hominins, and avian ecology, with emphasis on the Iberian Peninsula's role in human evolution. He co-directed studies on Gibraltar's caves (Gorham’s, Vanguard), revealing late Neanderthal survival and prehistoric biodiversity. Finlayson’s work integrates paleontology, archaeology, and climatology, published in journals like Nature and Science.

Awards include an MBE (2003), Gibraltar Medallion of Distinction (2019), and Fellowship of the Linnaean Society (1990). He has authored influential books such as Neanderthals and Modern Humans (2004) and Humans on the brink of extinction (2009). His research teams excavate prehistoric sites, recovering over 10,000 vertebrate fossils, illuminating Pleistocene ecosystems and human adaptation.