Lionel Hautier is a researcher (CR2) at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) posted at the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier (ISEM). He is a vertebrate palaeontologist, specialising in mammals and notably rodents. His research interests include the evolution of the masticatory apparatus of extinct and extant rodents, studied using morphological (osteological and myological), morphometrical, and palaeontological evidence.