Michelangelo Bisconti received his PhD in earth sciences from the University of Pisa after completing a magna cum laude degree in natural sciences from the same University. He then worked at the Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean in Livorno and with the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany. He currently works at the Earth Sciences Dept. at the University of Torino. He studies the evolution of baleen whales from a paleontological point of view. He has studied fossil collections in several institutions around the world and has authored more than 100 scientific publications.