Clive Finlayson was born on Gibraltar on 15 January 1955. He has an elder brother, Tommy Finlayson. The Finlaysons are of Scottish descent, but they have been on the Rock since the early 19th century.[3] Clive Finlayson was educated at the Gibraltar Grammar School. He completed a BSc Special Honours degree in Zoology at the University of Liverpool in 1976. In 1980 he graduated with a Doctorate of Philosophy (DPhil) from Oriel College, Oxford and later went on to obtain an MSc in Museum Studies from Leicester University.[4]
His various publications include literature on the Neanderthals and Modern Humans as well as on ornithology and his research programme includes ongoing excavations at Gorham's Cave, the last known site of the Neanderthals, as part of the Gibraltar Caves Project.[2] Finlayson's 2009 book on Neanderthals and their interaction with Homo sapiens expands on the idea that we were the same species since modern man contains genetic sequences that are shared with neanderthals and the possibility of interbreeding is likely. However, Finlayson discusses that because these shared genetic sequences are common across the globe then it is possible that these shared genes are due to our common heritage in Africa.[5]
Finlayson, Clive (2011). Avian Survivors: Climate Change and the History of the Birds of the Western Palearctic. T. & A. D. Poyser. ISBN978-0713688658.
Finlayson, Clive (2010). Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar. Poyser. ISBN978-1408136959.
Finlayson, Clive (2009). The Humans Who became extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0199239191.
Where the Last Neanderthals Lived: A Study of Neanderthal and Modern Human Behavioural Ecology in a Glacial Refugium. Oxbow Books. 2012. ISBN978-1842172650.