Associate Professor Diego C Garcia-Bellido

• Biography/ Background

  I got my Graduate Degree in Biology-Zoology (1995) and a Postgraduate Degree in Palaeontology (1997) from the Complutense University in Madrid. My first contact with Burgess Shale-type fossils was in the summer of 1994, when I visited the University of Cambridge, studying soft-bodied (non-mineralized) fossils from the Lower Cambrian Kinzers Formation of Pennsylvania with Prof. Conway Morris and early Cambrian organic-walled microfossils from northwestern Canada with Prof. Butterfield. During the summers of 1995, 1997 and 2000 I excavated at the Burgess Shale (British Columbia) with the Royal Ontario Museum-Toronto, under the direction of Dr. Collins. In parallel with my research on soft-bodied fossils, and due to the scarcity of such type of fossils in Spain, I took a different topic for my PhD Thesis: the Palaeozoic Porifera from the Iberian Peninsula (Madrid, 2002). I did a two-year postdoc at the ROM (2003-2004), working with Dr. Collins on some of the Burgess Shale's most emblematic arthropod fossils (Marrella, Leanchoilia, Isoxys...). Upon my return to Madrid (2005) I headed a research project for the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) to search for Ediacaran, Burgess Shale and Orsten-type fossils in Spain, and study their palaeogeographic implications. My latest work comes from collaborations with the South Australian Museum in excavating and studying the early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte in Kangaroo Island (South Australia), having joined The University of Adelaide in January 2013 as a Senior Research Fellow. In late 2013 I became an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, with a 4-year research project entitled "Testing our knowledge on the dawn of Animal life: evidence from the fossil record against modern ecological and morphological analogues". It focused on comparing the Ediacara Biota and the Emu Bay Shale and other Cambrian lagerstätten from a palaeocological perspective, and included experiments on Modern marine invertebrate predation to test against what we observe in the fossil record. In the last 5 years I have also been working on the anatomy, functional morphology and behaviour of the Ediacara Biota from the Flinders Ranges, with the goal of finding the links of these strange fossils with the Cambrian faunas. Since January 2018 I have a ongoing position as Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide and as Senior Researcher at the South Australian Museum.

  As part of my research on the Ediacara Biota, I have support from Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP220102772 and NASA Exobiology Grant #20-EXO20-0009 (in collaboration with Prof. Droser, from the University of California - Riverside) to work in northern South Australia. My team's research helps underpin the UNESCO Flinders Ranges World Heritage bid, in collaboration with a range of government and NGO partners including the Department of Environment and Water and the Flinders Ranges Ediacara Foundation.

• Research Interests

  My main interest is the taxonomic diversity and functional morphology of the early metazoans generated during the Cambrian "explosion" (some 540 million years ago), and the phylogenetic relationships among the major animal groups (phyla) that appeared with this unique event in the history of the biosphere. I am also interested on the Ediacara Biota (570-540 Ma) and on finding the morphological, ecological and phylogenetic links of these fossils with the Cambrian faunas.

  I am working/have worked on the following groups of fossil inverebrates:

  • Ediacaran taxa from Australia (Tribachidium, Dickinsonia, Parvancorina, Eoandromeda, Arkarua)
  • Cambrian arthropods from Canada and Australia (Marrella, Anomalocaris, Isoxys, Redlichia)
  • Cambrian chordates and worms from Australia and Spain (Nesonektris, Wronascolex)
  • Cambrian sponges from Spain (Leptomitus, Crumillospongia)
  • Ordovician arthropods from Portugal and Morocco (Hungioides, Megistaspis, Symphysurus) 
  • Ordovician worms from Morocco (Gamascolex, Anguiscolex)
  • Carboniferous sponges from Spain (Coelocladia, Heliospongia, Ambysiphonella, Cystothalamia)

   

  PhD/MPhil students: 

  Mahala A. Fergusen: “Marine Miocene fossils of southern Australia”, Principal Supervisor, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Adelaide. Ongoing from February 2022.

   

  Tory L. Botha “Morphology and ecology of Ediacaran fossils from Nilpena Ediacara National Park, Flinders Ranges, South Australia” Principal Supervisor, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Adelaide. Awarded 15 July 2024.

   

  James D. Holmes “Ontogeny, systematics and soft-part anatomy of early Cambrian trilobites from South Australia.” Principal Supervisor: Doctor of Philosophy, University of Adelaide. Awarded 10 September, 2020, Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence.

   

  Lily M. Reid “The Ediacara biota of South Australia: assemblage relationships and their palaeoenvironments”. External Supervisor, Doctor of Philosophy, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia. Awarded 22 March, 2020.

   

  James D. Holmes “Biogeographic and biological comparisons between the Emu Bay Shale and other Cambrian Burgess Shale-type biotas.” Principal Supervisor, Master of Philosophy, University of Adelaide. Awarded December 2016, High Distinction A, with Dean Commendation.

   

  Felicity J. Coutts: “Palaeoecology, morphometrics and phylogenetic relationships of Parvancorina from the Ediacaran of the Flinders Ranges (South Australia)” Principal Supervisor, Doctor of Philosophy. University of Adelaide. Awarded 14 June 2019, Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence.

  Honours/others students:

  Ella Vanderlinden “Fossil assemblage and palaeoecology of Mickey Ridge Bed 4, Nilpena Ediacara National Park, South Australia”. Principal Supervisor, Honours Project, University of Adelaide. Ongoing from February 2024.

   

  Ashten M. Turner: “The palaeobiology and affinities of the Ediacaran Beltanelliformis from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia”. Principal Supervisor, Honours Project, University of Adelaide. Awarded July 2022, First Class.

   

  Mahala A. Fergusen: “Inverting Focus: The fossil marine invertebrates of the Naracoorte Limestone”. Principal Supervisor, Honours Project, University of Adelaide. Awarded November 2021, First Class.

   

  Tory L. Botha: “The morphology of Eoandromeda octobrachiata from the Ediacara biota of Nilpena Fossil Heritage site, South Australia”. Honours Project, Principal Supervisor. Awarded July 2020, First Class.

   

  Ashten M. Turner: “A brief investigation into the morphology of Phyllozoon hanseni from the Ediacaran of South Australia”. Supervisor, Summer Internship South Australian Museum, 15 December 2019 – 15 January 2020.

   

  Lily M. Reid: “A Precambrian seafloor snapshot: Palaeoecology of an Ediacaran community from Crisp Gorge (Flinders Ranges), with emphasis on Dickinsonia costata” Honours Project, Principal Supervisor. Faculty of Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide. Awarded November, 2015, First Class (GPA: 7.00, highest mark in SBS), School of Biological Sciences Honours 2015 Award.

• Publications

  LAST 5 YEARS

   

  Scholarly book chapters

   

  Gutiérrez-Marco J.C. & García-Bellido D.C., 2022. The international fossil trade from the Paleozoic of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco, pp. 1–28. In:Hunter, A.W.; Álvaro, J.J.; Lefebvre, B.; Van Roy, P. & Zamora, S. (eds), The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: Insights from the Tafilalt Biota, Morocco. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 485: 69–96 (doi: 10.1144/SP485.1).

   

  Gutiérrez-Marco J.C.; Pereira, S.; García-Bellido D.C. & Rábano, I. 2022. Ordovician trilobites from the Tafilalt Lagerstätte: new data and reappraisal of the Bou Nemrou assemblage pp. 1–41. In: Hunter, A.W.; Álvaro, J.J.; Lefebvre, B.; Van Roy, P. & Zamora, S. (eds), The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: Insights from the Tafilalt Biota, Morocco. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 485: 97–137 (doi.org/10.1144/SP485-2018-126).

   

  Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C.; Piçarra, J.M.; Meireles, C.A.; Cózar, P.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Pereira, Z.; Vaz, N.; Pereira, S.; Lopes, G.; Oliveira, J.T.; Quesada, C.; Zamora, S.; Esteve, J.; Colmenar, J.; Bernárdez, E.; Coronado, I.; Lorenzo, S. & Sá, A.A. 2019. Early Ordovician–Devonian passive margin stage in the Gondwanan units of the Iberian Massif, pp. 75–98. In: Quesada, C. & Oliveira, J.T. (eds), The Geology of Iberia: a geodynamic approach. Vol. 2, The Variscan Cycle (J.F. Simancas, ed.). Springer Verlag, Regional Geology Review series, Berlin, VIII+692 pp. (ISBN 978-3-030-10519-8) (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-10519-8_3).

   

  Refereed journal articles

   

  Gaines, R.R.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Jago, J.B.; Myrow, P.M. & Paterson, J.R. 2024. The Emu Bay Shale: a unique early Cambrian Lagerstätte from a tectonically active basin. Science Advances, 10: eadp2650 (doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp2650)

   

  Botha, T.L.; Droser, M.L.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Sherratt, E. 2024. Morphometric investigation of Tribrachidium from Nilpena Ediacara National Park, South Australia. Palaeontologia Electronica, 27 (2): a36 (doi.org/10.26879/1374)

   

  Botha, T.L. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2024. A new species of the iconic triradial Ediacaran genus Tribrachidium, from Nilpena Ediacara National Park, Flinders Ranges (South Australia). Journal of Paleontology, 98 (1): 1–12. (doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.99)

   

  Drage, H.B.; Holmes, J.D.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Paterson, J.R. 2023. Associations between trilobite intraspecific moulting variability and body proportions: Estaingia bilobata from the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale, Australia. Palaeontology, e12651, 12 pp. (doi.org/10.1111/pala.12651).

   

  Bicknell R.D.C.; Holmes, J.D.; Pates S.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Paterson, J.R. 2023. Malformed individuals of the trilobite Estaingia bilobatafrom the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale and their palaeobiological implications. Geological Magazine, 160 (4): 803–812 (doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822001261).

   

  Botha, T.L., Sherratt, E., Droser, M.L., Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2023. Elucidating the morphology and ecology of Eoandromeda octobrachiata from the Ediacaran of South Australia. Papers in Palaeontology, e1530, 11 pp (doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1530).

   

  García-Bellido, D.C. & Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C. 2023. Polar gigantism and remarkable taxonomic longevity in new palaeoscolecid worms from the Late Ordovician Tafilalt Lagerstätte of Morocco. Historical Biology, 35 (11): 2011–2021. (doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2131404).

   

  Jago, J.B.; Gehling, J.G.; Lemon, N.M.; Jenkins, R.J.F. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2023. A large enigmatic fossil from the early Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3) Heatherdale Shale of South Australia. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 66 (3): 398–404 (doi.org/10.1080/00288306.2022.2157846).

   

  Paterson, J.R.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Edgecombe, G.D. 2023. The early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale radiodonts revisited: morphology and systematics. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 21(1), 2225066, 29 pp. (doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2023.2225066).

   

  Bicknell R.D.C.; Holmes, J.D.; Pates S.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Paterson, J.R. 2022. Cambrian carnage: trilobite predator-prey interactions in the Emu Bay Shale of South Australia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 591: 110877 (doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110877).

   

  Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C.; Rábano, I.; Sá, A.A.; Poblador, J.A. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2022. Nuevo trilobites asáfido con conservación de apéndices en la Biota de Fezouata (Ordovícico Inferior de Marruecos). Geogaceta, 71: 11-14.

   

  Cracknell, K.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Gehling, J.G.; Ankor, M.J.; Darroch S.A.F. & Rahman, I.A. 2021. Pentaradial eukaryote suggests expansion of suspension feeding in White Sea-aged Ediacaran communities. Scientific Reports, 11: 4121. (doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83452-1).

   

  Holmes, J.D.; Paterson, J.R. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2021. Complex axial growth patterns in an early Cambrian trilobite from South Australia. Proceedings Royal Society of London B, 288: 20212131 (doi.ro/10.1098/rsbp.2021.2131).

   

  Holmes, J.D.; Paterson, J.R. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2021. The post-embryonic ontogeny of the early Cambrian trilobite Estaingia bilobata from South Australia: trunk development and phylogenetic implications. Papers in Palaeontology, 7 (2); 931–950(doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1323).

   

  Holmes, J.D., Paterson, J.R., Jago, J.B., García-Bellido, C.D. 2021. Ontogeny of the trilobite Redlichia from the lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4) Ramsay Limestone of South Australia. Geological Magazine, 158 (7): 1209–1223 (doi.org/ 10.1017/S0016756820001259).

   

  Turner, A.M.; Delean, S. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2021. Preliminary revision of the morphology of Phyllozoon hanseni from the Ediacaran of South Australia. Serie Correlación Geológica, 37 (2): 5–14 (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5600269).

   

  Paterson, J.R.; Edgecombe, G.D. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2020. Disparate compound eyes of Cambrian radiodonts reveal their developmental growth mode and diverse visual ecology. Science Advances, 6: eabc6721 (doi.org/ 10.1126/sciadv.abc6721).

   

  Jago, J.B.; Gehling, J.G.; Betts, M.J.; Brock, G.A.; Dalgarno, C.R.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Haslett, P.G.; Jacquet, S.M.; Kruse, P.D.; Langsford, N.R.; Mount T.J. & Paterson, J.R. 2020. The Cambrian System in the Arrowie Basin, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 67 (7): 923–948. (doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2018.1525431).

   

  Reid, L.M.; Holmes, J.D.; Payne, J.L.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Jago, J.B. 2020. Taxa, turnover and taphofacies: a preliminary analysis of facies-assemblage relationships in the Ediacara Member (Flinders Ranges, South Australia). Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 67 (6): 905–914(doi.org/10.1080/08120099.2018.1488767).

   

  Reid, L.M.; Payne, J.L.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Jago J.B. 2020. The Ediacara Member, South Australia: lithofacies and palaeoenvironments of the Ediacara biota. Gondwana Research, 80: 321–334 (doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2019.09.017).

   

  Holmes, J.D.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Paterson, J.R. 2020. The trilobite Redlichia from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte of South Australia: systematics, ontogeny and soft-part anatomy. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 18(4): 295–334 (doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2019.1605411).

   

   

  Conference papers & abstracts

   

  Faehnrich, K.; García-Bellido, D.C.; Droser, M.L. & Gaines, R.R. 2024. Revising depositional models for the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia. In: European Geological Union General Assembly Abstracts, 15–19 April, Vienna (Austria).

   

  García-Bellido, D.C. 2023. Australian Ediacaran and Cambrian Contributions to Evolution. p. XY. In: Australasian Evolution Society Conference, Adelaide, 13–15 December.

   

  Botha, T.L.; Sherratt, E.; Droser, M.L.; Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2023. Shaping up: morphology of Tribrachidium from Nilpena, South Australia, p. 35. In: Abstract book and Conference Guide: Palaeo Down Under 3. Australasian Palaeontologists, Perth (Western Australia), 10–14 July. 129 pp.

   

  Botha, T.; McCandless, H.; Boan, P.C., Surprenant, R.; Weyland, W.; Binnie, M-A.; Hughes, I.; Evans, S.; García-Bellido, D.C. & Droser, M. 2023. A quantitative view into the taphonomy of Kimberella quadrata from Nilpena Ediacara National Park, South Australia. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 55 (6): Paper No. 148-5. GSA Connects 2023 Meeting, Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), 15–18 October (doi.org/10.1130/abs/2023AM-393446)

   

  Fergusen, M.; Reed, E.H. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2023. Raiders of the lost art: revealing the lost patterns of molluscan fossil shells with UV light , p. 45. In: Abstract book and Conference Guide: Palaeo Down Under 3. Australasian Palaeontologists, Perth (Western Australia), 10–14 July. 129 pp.

   

  Paterson, J.R. ; García-Bellido, D.C. & Edgecombe, G.D. 2023. The early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale radiodonts revisited, p. 80. In: Abstract book and Conference Guide: Palaeo Down Under 3, 10–14 July 2023. Australasian Palaeontologists, Perth, Western Australia, 129 pp.

   

  Botha, T.L.; Sherratt, E.; Droser, M.L.; Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2022. Morphological investigation of Tribrachidium from Nilpena, South Australia. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 54 (5): Paper No. 148-5. GSA Connects, Denver (Colorado), 9–12 October (doi.org/10.1130/abs/2022AM-379941).

   

  Turner, A.M.; Delean, S. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2021. Preliminary revision of the morphology of Phyllozoon hanseni from the Ediacaran of South Australia. Geological Society of Australia Earth Sciences Student Symposium of South Australia, Adelaide, 23 November.

   

  Holmes, J.D.; Paterson J.R. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2021. Complex growth and sexual maturity in a c. 512-million-year-old trilobite. In: 65th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, Programme, Abstracts and AGM papers, p. 30. 18–20 December, University of Manchester (UK).

   

  Botha, T.L; Sherratt, E.; Droser, M.L.; Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2020. Rotational Geometric Morphometrics sheds light on 555 million-year-old fossil. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. 26–30 October.

   

  Botha, T.L; Sherratt, E.; Droser, M.L.; Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C. 2020. Spiralling out of control: Morphology and ecology of Eoandromeda octobrachiata from Nilpena, South Australia. Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting. 16–18 December, Oxford (UK).

• Media Expertise

  Categories	Palaeontology
  Expertise	Fossils; early animals; evolution; invertebrates; arthropods; trilobites; paleontology; Ediacaran; Cambrian; Ordovician
  Mobile	+61 404 426 249
  After hours	+61 404 426 249

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 30 Jul 2024

To link to this page, please use the following URL:  https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/diego.garcia-bellido