James Holmes

Higher Degree by Research Candidate

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences

My interests revolve around the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian transition and the rise of multicellular life on Earth. In particular, I am interested in developmental processes in Cambrian trilobites, and what these arthropods can tell us about early animal evolution.

My PhD project focuses on quantitative ontogenetics of early Cambrian trilobites from South Australia, largely from the Emu Bay Shale, a Cambrian Burgess Shale-type (BST) Lagerstätte from Kangaroo Island. This type of study has yet to undertaken focusing on organisms of this age, in the aftermath of the Cambrian 'explosion'—the largest animal biodiversification event in Earth’s history. Results from this study will help us to determine how growth is controlled in some of the earliest arthropods, and shows how morphometric analysis of fossil datasets can provide answers to important questions concerning evolutionary developmental biology.

My Masters thesis involved comparisons between the Emu Bay Shale and other Cambrian BST biotas. To this end it involved two major projects; a biogeographic study of Cambrian BST biotas, and a study of moulting behaviour in trilobites from the Emu Bay Shale.

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Appointments

Date Position Institution name
2017 PhD Candidate University of Adelaide

Date	Position	Institution name
2017	PhD Candidate	University of Adelaide

Education

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
2015 - 2016	University of Adelaide	Australia	MPhil (Science)
2012 - 2014	University of Adelaide	Australia	Bachelor of Science (Evolutionary Biology – Palaeontology)
2004 - 2007	University of Adelaide	Australia	Bachelor of Economics

Research Interests

Developmental Biology Evolutionary Biology Palaeoecology Palaeontology Phylogeny and Comparative Analysis

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Journals

Year	Citation
2020	Holmes, J., Paterson, J., & Garcia-Bellido, D. (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 Scopus4 WoS3
2020	Jago, J., Bentley, C., Paterson, J., Holmes, J., Lin, T., & Sun, X. (2020). The stratigraphic significance of early Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4) trilobites from the Smith Bay Shale near Freestone Creek, Kangaroo Island. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 9 pages. DOI
2020	Holmes, J., Paterson, J., & Garcia-Bellido, D. (2020). The post-embryonic ontogeny of the early Cambrian trilobite Estaingia bilobata from South Australia: trunk development and phylogenetic implications. Papers in Palaeontology. DOI
2019	Holmes, J. D., Garcia-Bellido, D., & Paterson, J. R. (2019). A giant species of trilobite inhabited Australian waters half a billion years ago. The Conversation, 2019(June 13).
2018	Holmes, J., Garcia-Bellido, D., & Lee, M. (2018). Comparisons between Cambrian Lagerstätten assemblages using multivariate, parsimony and Bayesian methods. Gondwana Research, 55, 30-41. DOI Scopus9 WoS8
2018	Drage, H., Holmes, J., Garcia-Bellido, D., & Daley, A. (2018). An exceptional record of Cambrian trilobite moulting behaviour preserved in the Emu Bay Shale, South Australia. Lethaia, 51(4), 473-492. DOI Scopus8 WoS8
2018	Reid, L., Holmes, J., Payne, J., García-Bellido, D., & Jago, J. (2018). Taxa, turnover and taphofacies: a preliminary analysis of facies-assemblage relationships in the Ediacara Member (Flinders Ranges, South Australia). Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. DOI Scopus4
2016	Lee, M., Palci, A., Jones, M., Caldwell, M., Holmes, J., & Reisz, R. (2016). Aquatic adaptations in the four limbs of the snake-like reptile Tetrapodophis from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. Cretaceous Research, 66, 194-199. DOI Scopus13 WoS12

Email: james.holmes@adelaide.edu.au

James Holmes

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