School of Geographical and Earth Sciences

Dr Uwe Balthasar

Uwe Balthasar
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate (School of Geographical and Earth Sciences)

email: Uwe.Balthasar@glasgow.ac.uk


General Research Interests

  • Origins and early Evolution of Brachiopods
  • Evolution of Biomineralization
  • Diagenesis as a tool in Fossil Preservation

Current research

CaCO3 polymorph formation at biologically relevant temperatures - in collaboration with Maggie Cusack (Glasgow)

The formation of aragonite and calcite is temperature dependent - can this help us to explain patterns in the evolution skeletal composition among marine invertebrates?

Cambrian - Ordovician Phylogeny of the Lophophorata - in collboration with Alistair McGowan (Glasgow), Martin Brazeau (Leiden), Christian Skovsted (Stockholm), Lars Holmer and Michael Streng (both Uppsala), David Harper (Durham), Glenn Brock (Macquarie), Zhifei Zhang (Northwest University, Xi'an, China)

The best resolved cladistic analysis of brachiopods so far using the only available witnesses: Cambrian and Ordovician fossils. 

Stromatoporoid sponges in a calcite sea - in collaboration with Maggie Cusack, Anne-Christine DaSilva (Liege, Belgium), and Stephen Kershaw (Brunel University)

The skeletal composition of stromatoporoid sponges was suggested to reflect ancient aragonite/calcite sea conditions - but do they?

 

Jump to: 2009 | 2008
Number of items: 8.

2009

Balthasar, U., Skovsted, C.B., Holmer, L.E., and Brock, G.A. (2009) Homologous skeletal secretion in tommotiids and brachiopods. Geology, 37 (12). pp. 1143-1146. ISSN 0091-7613 (doi:10.1130/G30323A.1)

Balthasar, U. (2009) The brachiopod Eoobolus from the early cambrian mural formation (Canadian Rocky Mountains). Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 83 (3). pp. 407-418. ISSN 0031-0220 (doi:10.1007/s12542-009-0026-4)

Skovsted, C.B., Holmer, L.E., Larsson, C.M., Högström, A.E.S., Brock, G.A., Topper, T.P., Balthasar, U. , Stolk, S.P., and Paterson, J.R. (2009) The scleritome of Paterimitra: an early cambrian stem group brachiopod from South Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 276 (1662). pp. 1651-1666. ISSN 0962-8452 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1655)

Balthasar, U. (2009) Mummpikiagen. nov. and the origin of calcitic-shelled brachiopods. Palaeontology, 51 (2). pp. 263-279. ISSN 0031-0239 (doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00754.x)

Holmer, L.E., Stolk, S.P., Skovsted, C.B., Balthasar, U. , and Popov, L. (2009) The enigmatic early cambrian Salanygolina – a stem group of rhynchonelliform chileate brachiopods? Palaeontology, 52 (1). pp. 1-10. ISSN 0031-0239 (doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00831.x)

Balthasar, U., and Butterfield, N.J. (2009) Early Cambrian "soft−shelled" brachiopods as possible stem−group phoronids. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 54 (2). pp. 307-314. ISSN 0567-7920 (doi:10.4202/app.2008.0042)

Skovsted, C.B., Balthasar, U. , Brock, G.A., and Paterson, J.R. (2009) The tommotiid Camenella reticulosa from the early cambrian of South Australia: morphology, scleritome reconstruction, and phylogeny. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 54 (3). pp. 525-540. ISSN 0567-7920 (doi:10.4202/app.2008.0082)

2008

Grazhdankin, D.V., Balthasar, U. , Nagovitsin, K.E., and Kochnev, B.B. (2008) Carbonate-hosted avalon-type fossils in arctic Siberia. Geology, 36 (10). pp. 803-806. ISSN 0091-7613 (doi:10.1130/G24946A.1)

This list was generated on Sat May 26 11:20:52 2012 BST.

Balthasar, U., 2012. The evolution of biomineralization, £1.2k, Palaeontological Association; support to organise a conference session

Balthasar, U., 2011. Cambrian calcareous brachiopods of eastern Canada, £8k (in kind), EU Synthesys Program; support of travel costs, living expenses, and bench fees for one months’ stay at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm

Balthasar, U. and Cusack, M. 2009-2012. The role of skeletal microstructure in evolution, €249k (Volkswagen Foundation). Co-Investigators: M. Aberhan (Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt University, Berlin). Postdoctoral salary and research costs for three years.

Balthasar, U. and Cusack, M. 2009. Deciphering the evolution of calcite biomineralisation from organophosphatic ancestors in brachiopods using tomography, Grant-in-kind £15k (Swiss Light Source). Access to Synchrotron facilities including travel costs and accomodation. 

Courses

  • Earth Sciences Level 2 - Palaeobiology
  • Earth Sciences Level 4 - Major Earth Processes

Earth Sciences Field Classes

  • Level 2 - Arran