Diego Garcia-Bellido

Associate Professor Diego Garcia-Bellido is a paleontologist at the University of Adelaide, affiliated with the School of Biological Sciences within the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology. His research focuses on early metazoan evolution, particularly the Cambrian Explosion and Ediacara Biota. He holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2013–2017) and leads projects on fossil Lagerstätten in Australia and Morocco.

Education: Graduate Degree in Biology-Zoology (1995) and Postgraduate in Paleontology (1997) from Complutense University of Madrid. Postdoctoral work at the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Cambridge. Current roles include Senior Researcher at the South Australian Museum and co-leader of UNESCO Flinders Ranges World Heritage efforts.

Research Interests: Functional morphology of Cambrian fossils, phylogenetic relationships among early animal groups, Ediacara-Cambrian faunal links, and experimental paleontology. Key projects include Emu Bay Shale studies and collaborations with NASA on Ediacaran predation experiments.

Grants & Awards: ARC Discovery Project DP220102772, NASA Exobiology Grant #22-EXO22-0009. Notable contributions to trilobite ontogeny, radiodont morphology, and Ediacaran ecology.

Labs & Collaborations: South Australian Museum, University of Adelaide paleontology lab. Active in fieldwork at Flinders Ranges and international sites like Morocco’s Tafilalt region.