GEORGE LYRAS

Curator
Museum of Paleontology and Geology
University of Athens

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  • In Press. The fossil record of endemic mammals from Greece . In Vlachos E. (ed.) The Fossil Vertebrates of Greece: A synopsis of the fossil record and taxonomy. Springer-Nature.


  • Vretzaki E., Papadopoulos I., Ioannidis P., Pehlivanides G., Tsafaras S., Kalogeropoulos I., Katopodis G., Plessa-Valadaki A., Koskeridou E., Mariolakos I., Lyras G., Thivaiou D., Psarras C., Plessas S., Skoulikidis N. 2020. INNOVEXPO: Developing innovative applications for enhanced and Interactive expositions. In M.H. Faber (ed) ICOM A collection of papers, presented in the AVICOM sessions during the 25th ICOM General Conference “Museums as Cultural Hubs: The Future of Tradition”, Kyoto, 1-7 September 2019: 65-73.


  • Lyras G.A. 2020. The palaeofauna of Greece: fossil vertebrates. In Pafilis P. (ed.) The Fauna of Greece: 59–103. Broken Hill Publishers Ltd, Nicosia.[IN GREEK]


  • Thivaiou D., Koskeridou E., Psarras C., Michalopoulou K., Evelpidou N., Saitis G., Lyras G. 2020. Lake Lerna: investigating Hercules' ancient myth. EGU General Assembly 2020.


  • Athanassiou A., van der Geer A.A.E., Lyras G. 2019. Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: a review and update . Quaternary Science Reviews 218: 306-32


  • Lyras G.A., Giannakopoulou A., Werdelin L. 2019. The brain anatomy of an early Miocene felid from Ginn Quarry (Nebraska, USA). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 93: 345-355.


  • Lyras G.A., 2018. Brain changes during phyletic dwarfing in elephants and hippos. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 92:167–181.


  • Lyras G.A., Giannakopoulou A., Lillis T., van der Geer A.A.E. 2019. Paradise lost: Evidence for a devastating metabolic bone disease in an insular Pleistocene deer. International journal of paleopathology 24: 213-226.


  • Lyras G., Basias M. 2019. Analysis of Tyrannosaurus representations in cinema. Antonarakou A., Lyras G., Smyrnaiou Z., Besiou E., Nikolopoulos A., Zarkogiannis S., Gramba A. 2019. Using 3D-printed models to improve pupil comprehension of fossil foraminifera. Koskeridou E., Mariolakos I., Skoulikidis N., Lyras G., Thivaiou D., Psarras C., Katopodis G., Plessa-Valadaki A., Plessas S., Papadopoulos I., Vretzaki E., Pehlivanides E., Tsafaras S. 2019. INNOVEXPO: Interactive presentation of geomyths and their geological background. 15th International Congress of the Geological Society of Greece, Athens, 22-24 May, 2019. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, Sp. Publ. 7 Ext. Abs. GSG2019.


  • Van der Geer A., Lomolino M., Lyras G. 2019. Island life before man. Island Biology 3rd International Conference. La Réunion, 8-13 July.


  • Karakitsios B., Lyras G. 2019. The Museuom of Palaeontology and Geology: a window into the past. i Fysi 161: 17-20.[IN GREEK]


  • Van der Geer A.A.E., Lyras G.A., Volmer R. 2018. Insular dwarfism in canids on Java (Indonesia) and its implication for the environment of Homo erectus during the Early and earliest Middle Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 507: 168-179.


  • Van der Geer A.A.E., Lyras G.A., Mitteroecker P., MacPhee R.D.E. 2018. From Jumbo to Dumbo: Cranial Shape Changes in Elephants and Hippos During Phyletic Dwarfing. Evolutionary Biology 45(3): 303-317.


  • Ingicco T., van den Bergh G.D., Jago-on C., Bahain J.-J., Chacón M.G., Amano N., Forestier H., King C., Manalo K., Nomade S., Pereira A., Reyes M.C., Sémah A.-M., Shao Q., Voinchet P., Falguères C., Albers P.C.H., Lising M., Lyras G., Yurnaldi D., Rochette P., Bautista A., de Vos J. 2018. Earliest known hominin activity in the Philippines by 709 thousand years ago. Nature 557(7704): 233-237.


  • Van der Geer A.A.E., Lomolino M.V., Lyras G.A. 2018. ‘On being the right size’–Do aliens follow the rules? Journal of Biogeography 45 (3): 515-529.


  • Lyras G.A. 2017. The brain of cats and cat-like predators. 15th Congress of the RCMNS: Exlploring a physical laboratory: the Mediterranean Basin. Athens, 3-6 September. Abstracts: 135.


  • Lyras G.A., Giannakopoulou A., Kouvari M., Papadopoulos G.C. 2017. Evolution of gyrification in carnivores. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 88: 187–203.


  • Giannakopoulou A., Lyras G.A., Grigoriadis N. 2017. Long Term effects of autoimmune CNS inflammation on adult hippocambal neurogenesis. Journal of Neuroscience Research 95(7): 1446–1458.


  • Lazaridis G.T., Kostopoulos D., Lyras G., Roussiakis S. 2017. A new Late Miocene ovibovinelike bovid (Bovidae, Mammalia) from the Kassandra Peninsula (Chalkidiki, Northern Greece) and implications to the phylogeography of the group. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 91(3): 427–437.


  • Van der Geer A.A.E., Lomolino M.V., Lyras G.A. 2017. “Island Life” before man: biogeography of palaeo-insular mammals. Journal of Biogeography 44(5): 995–1006.


  • Athanassiou A., Lyras G., van der Geer A.A.E. 2017. Pleistocene insular Proboscidea of the Eastern Mediterranean: an update and revision of available samples. 7th International Conference of Mammoths and their Relatives, 17-23 September, 2017, National Museum of Natural Science Taichung, Taiwan: PE2-2.


  • Van der Geer AAE, van den Bergh GD, Lyras GA, Prasetyo UW, Awe Due R, Setiyabudi E, Drinia H. 2016. The effect of area and isolation on insular dwarf proboscideans. Journal of Biogeography 43(8): 1656–1666.
    [view to publisher]


  • Lyras G.A., Giannakopoulou A., Lillis T., Veis A., Papadopoulos G.C. 2016. Bone lesions in a Late Pleistocene assemblage of the insular deer Candiacervus sp.II from Liko cave (Crete, Greece). International Journal of Paleopathology 14(1): 36–45.



  • Giannakopoulou A, Bekiari C, Lyras GA, Lourbopoulos A, Grigoriadis N, Papadopoulos GC. 2015. Long term effects of t-cell-mediated cns inflammation on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. FENS 2015 Regional Meeting. Thessaloniki 7-10 October 2015: DE16.
    [PDF download: 12 KB]



  • Lyras GA, Drinia H, Dermitzaki A. 2015. The national museum that never was and the university museums that replaced it. 16th Universeum Network Meeting. Athens 11-13 June 2015: 33.
    [PDF download: 1800 KB]



  • Van der Geer AAE, Anastasakis G, Lyras GA. 2015. If hippopotamuses cannot swim, how did they colonize islands: A reply to Mazza. Lethaia 48(2): 147-150.
    [view to publisher]




  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE, Lomolino MV. 2015. The newcomers follow the old rules: body size evolution in mammals introduced onto islands. 95th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists, 12-16 June 2015, Florida, USA. Meeting Program and Abstracts: 14.


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, MacPhee RDE, Lomolino MV, Drinia H. 2014. Mortality in a predator-free insular environment: The dwarf deer of Crete. American Museum Novitates 3807: 1-26.
    [view to publisher]


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, van den Hoek Ostende LW, de Vos J, Drinia H. 2014. A dwarf elephant and a rock mouse on Naxos (Cyclades, Greece) with a revision of the palaeozoogeography of the Cycladic Islands (Greece) during the Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 404: 133-144.
    [view to publisher]


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras G, Lomolino M, Palombo MR, Sax D. 2014. Body size evolution on palaeo-islands: antiquity of the island rule and temporal fluctuations. 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Berlin, Germany, November 5-8, 2014. Meeting Program and Abstracts: 245.


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE, MacPhee RDE, Lomolino MV, Drinia H. 2014. The effect of absence of predators on juvenile survival in the insular Pleisrocene deer Candiacervus (Cetartiodactyla, Ruminantia, Cervidae). 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Berlin, Germany, November 5-8, 2014. Meeting Program and Abstracts: 171.


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, Drinia H. 2013. Trends of body size evolution in the fossil record of insular Southeast Asia. 2nd Southeast Asian Gateway Evolution Meeting March 11-15, Berlin, Germany, 2014. Meeting Program and Abstracts: 175.


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, de Vos J, Drinia H. 2013. Morphology of articular surfaces can solve a phylogenetic issue: one instead of two ancestors for Candiacervus (Mammalia: Cervoidea) International Conference on Ruminant Phylogenetics, Munich 3-6 September 2013. Ziteliana 31: 33-34.


  • Lomolino MV, van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, Palombo MR, Sax DF, Rozzi R. 2013. Of mice and mammoths: generality and antiquity of the island rule. Journal of Biogeography, 40(8): 1427-1439.
    [view to publisher] [PDF download: 360 KB][download supporting information S1 (data on fossil mammals): doc file][download supporting information S2 (data on living mammals): xlsx file]


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA, Lomolino MV, Palombo MR, Sax DF. 2013. Body size evolution of palaeo-insular mammals: temporal variations and interspecific interactions. Journal of Biogeography, 40(8): 1440-1450.
    [view to publisher] [PDF download: 360 KB]



  • Athanassiou A, Lyras G.2011. Nyctereutes megamastoides (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae): variation and evolution.
    Lyras G. 2011. First eat and then think: the relation between craniodental and neuroanatomical changes in carnivoran evolution.
    De Vos J, van der Geer AAE, Lyras G. 2011. Homo floresiensis is a hominid that evolved in an insular environment.
    Van der Geer AAE, Iliopoulos G, Lyras GA, de Vos J. 2011. The Middle Pleistocene deer of the Katharo basin (Crete, Greece) and its importance for a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the insular fauna of Crete.
    9th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 14-19 June 2011, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
    [download from 9th EAVP Annual Meeting page]


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA. 2011. Field Trip Guidebook. 9th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 14-19 June 2011, Heraklion, Crete, Greece: 32 pp.
    [download from 9th EAVP Annual Meeting page]


  • Van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA,van der Geer SB. 2011. Letter to the Editor: Microcephaly in ancient Greece, the Minoan microcephalus of Zakros . Child's Nervous System 27:1035.
    [view to publisher]


  • Van der Geer A, Lyras G, de Vos J, Dermitzakis M. 2010. Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, c. 479 pp, with index.
    [go to Wiley] [preview at Google]


  • Lyras GA, Van der Geer AAE, Rook L. 2010. Body size of insular carnivores: evidence from the fossil record. Journal of Biogeography, 37(6): 1007-1021.
    [view to publisher] [Abstract][request a PDF: 404 KB]


  • Iliopoulos G, Lyras G, Rousiakis S, Athanassiou A. 2010. Wooly rhinos and wooly mammoths in Southern Greece? Using REE elements to trace the provenance of old museum collections.
    Maniakas I, Iliopoulos G, Lyras G. 2010. Biometrical study of post-cranial deer material from the Late Pleistocene of Crete and Karpathos.
    8th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, 7-12 June 2010, Aix-en-Provence, France.
    [Abstracts: 365 KB]


  • Lyras GA. 2009. The evolution of the brain in Canidae (Mammalia:Carnivora). Scripta Geologica 139: 1-93.
    [go to Scripta Geologica] [PDF download: 2800 KB]


  • Van der Geer AAE, de Vos J, Dermitzakis M, Lyras G. 2009. Hoe dieren op eilanden evolueren. Majorca, Ibiza, Kreta, Sardiniie, Sicilie, Japan, Madagaskar, Malta. Utrecht: Veen Magazines, 229pp. ISBN 978 908571 169 8 / NUR 949. [IN DUTCH]
    [On-line bestellen bij Bruna (NL)] [On-line bestellen bij Azur (BE)]



  • Lyras GA. 2009. A look into the fossil world. In: MI Papagrigorakis, K Dermitzaki, T Doxanaki, D Staboliadi (eds) Geological and Palaeontological Heritage: Retrieval, Conservation, Management and Display. Summer School Professional Development Program, Postgraduate Course of Museum Studies pp.55-59.
    [PDF download: 213 KB]


  • Lyras GA, Dermitzakis DM, van der Geer AAE, van der Geer SB, de Vos J. 2009. The origin of Homo floresiensis and its relation to evolutionary processes under isolation. Anthropological Science 117(1):33-43. Published online 1 August 2008.
    [view to publisher] [Abstract][PDF download: 626 KB]


  • Dermitzakis MD, Lyras GA. 2008. The history of the Museum of Paleontology and Geology of the University of Athens in an evolutionary perspective. Proceedings of the international workshop on management of collections, museums and archaeological sites. Thessalonica 2005. Mouseia 05:30-33.[IN GREEK]
    [get an English translation] [PDF download: 1900 KB]


  • Lyras GA. 2007. Museum labels and fieldnotes. Cranium 24 (2): 45-47.
    [go to Cranium] [PDF download: 194 KB]


  • Dermitzakis MD, Iliopoulos G, van der Geer AAE, Lyras G. 2007. The Rise and Fall of the Cretan Deer.Abstracts of the XVII INQUA Congress. Quaternary International 167-168 (suppl.1): 97.
    [go to ScienceDirect] [PDF download: 80 KB]


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE. 2007. The Late Pliocene vertebrate fauna of Vatera (Lesvos Island, Greece). Cranium 24 (2): 11-24.
    [go to Cranium] [Abstract][PDF download: 513 KB]


  • Van der Geer AAE, de Vos J, Lyras G, Dermitzakis M. 2006. New data on the Pleistocene Cretan deer Candiacervus sp. II (Mammalia, Cervinae). In: Kahlke R-D, Maul LC, Mazza P (eds). Late Neogene and Quaternary biodiversity and evolution: Regional developments and interregional correlations. Proceedings of the 18th International Senckenberg Conference (VI International Palaeontological Colloquium in Weimar) vol. I. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 256: 131-137.
    [go to CFS] [Abstract][PDF download: 2.964 KB]


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE. 2006. Adaptations of the Pleistocene island canid Cynotherium sardous (Sardinia, Italy) for hunting small prey. Cranium 23 (1): 51-60.
    [go to Cranium] [Abstract][PDF download: 681 KB]


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE, Dermitzakis MD, de Vos J. 2006. Cynotherium sardous, an insular canid (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Pleistocene of Sardinia, and its origin. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 735-745.
    [view to publisher] [Abstract][request a PDF: 1.631 KB]


  • Dermitzakis MD, van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA. 2006. Paleopathological observations on a population of fossil deer from the Late Pleistocene of Crete. In: A Kalofourtis, N Papadopoulos, C Spiliopoulou, K Maravelias, A Chatziioannou (eds) Volume in honnor of Professor Andonis Koutselinis. pp.43-51. Athens. [IN GREEK]
    [Abstract][PDF download: 3.070 KB]


  • Van der Geer AAE, de Vos J, Lyras GA, Dermitzakis MD. 2005. The mounting of a skeleton of the fossil species Candiacervus sp.II from Liko Cave, Crete, Greece. Proceedings of the International Symposium Insular Vertebrate Evolution: The Palaeontological Approach. Monogafies de la Societat d Historia Natural de les Balears 12:337-346.
    [Abstract][PDF download: 428 KB]


  • Dermitzakis MD, van der Geer AAE, Lyras GA. 2004. The phylogenetic position of raccoon dogs: implications of their neuroanatomy. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Eastern Mediterranean Geology, 14 to 20 April, 2004, Thessaloniki, Greece, p. 307-310.
    [PDF download: 311 KB]


  • Dermitzakis M, Lyras G. 2003. The reconstruction of animals of the island environment at the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Athens. The Museum 3: 16-17. [IN GREEK]
    [PDF download:1549 KB]


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE. 2003. External brain anatomy in relation to phylogeny of Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 138:505-522.
    [view to publisher] [Abstract][request a PDF: 756 KB]


  • De Vos J, van der Made J, Athanassiou A, Lyras G, Sondaar P, Dermitzakis MD. 2002. Preliminary note on the Late Pliocene fauna from Vatera (Lesvos, Greece). Annales Geologiques des Pays Helleniques 39: 37-70.
    [Abstract][PDF download: 1.988 KB]


  • Lyras GA, van der Geer AAE, Dermitzakis MD. 2001. Evolution of the brain of Plio-Pleistocene wolves. Cranium 18(2):30-40.
    [go to Cranium] [Abstract]


  • Lyras GA. 2001. Adaptive radiation of the brain of the Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae). Proccedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Hellenic Society of Neuroscience, Thessaloniki, Greece, 19-21 October 2001:82.
    [Abstract PDF:33 KB]


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