Jean-Bernard Caron

Bio

B.Sc., Earth and Life Sciences, University Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, 1997
M.Sc., Earth Sciences, University Claude-Bernard, Lyon, 1999
Ph.D., Zoology, University of Toronto, 2005

Jean-Bernard Caron is Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at the ROM.

Previous position held at the ROM: Associate Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology (2006-2010)

A profound curiosity about fossils during his childhood led Jean-Bernard Caron to collect and curate his own personal fossil collection in his native France. By the age of 10, he knew he wanted to become a professional palaeontologist. As a teenager, he often joined various professional field crews across Europe for summer field expeditions collecting fossils, and the experience gained as a volunteer field assistant led to an invitation from Desmond Collins, then Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at the ROM, to join his field crew at the famous Burgess Shale fossil deposit in British Columbia. This was his first visit to Canada, and he returned to the Burgess Shale as a ROM volunteer for the following two summer field seasons.

His Master's thesis dealt with Banffia constricta, one of the most bizarre animals known from the Burgess Shale. This study was followed by a PhD on the taphonomy and paleoecology of the Burgess Shale community. By the end of his PhD project, Jean-Bernard had examined about half the Burgess Shale specimens (more than 70,000 fossils) stored at the ROM, which houses what can now be considered the world’s largest collection of its kind (over 150,000 specimens). After a short Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council post-doctoral fellowship (Government of Canada), he joined the ROM as Associate Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology in early 2006, thus finally fulfilling his long-standing childhood dream.

At present, his main responsibilities are to curate and interpret fossils from the very large ROM Burgess Shale collection as well as to continue fieldwork activities. This represents a real Pandora’s Box for science, with many new organisms still to be described. He also studies fossils from other deposits, particularly in China, where there are sites of similar age and quality of preservation. These Burgess Shale-type deposits yield spectacularly preserved soft-bodied organisms. Because of their great age (about half a billion years old), they are of crucial importance for the study of the origins of animal groups during the Cambrian evolutionary radiation. At the end of 2010, Jean-Bernard launched the "Virtual Museum of Canada website on the Burgess Shale", a joint effort between the ROM and Parks Canada. This bilingual website received over 65.000 visitors in 2012.

Follow Jean-Bernard Caron on ROM BLOG:

• Jan 18-2013: My Journey with Sir David Attenborough

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS:

Jean-Bernard was the recipient of the 2010 Pikaia award from the Canadian Geological Association in recognition of his contribution to the profile of Canadian paleontology through his research. The nomination citation (PDF) praised him as "an exceptionally innovative and productive young paleontologist who shows promise for continuing excellence in Canadian paleontological research."

Jean-Bernard received two awards for "Virtual Museum of Canada website on the Burgess Shale": the Paleontological Association Golden Trilobite Award (2011) and the Ontario Museum Association Award for Excellence in Publications (2012).

RESEARCH GRANTS:

Jean-Bernard's research at the ROM is partially funded by an NSERC Discovery grant (2012-2017) under the program, "Palaeobiology and community analysis of the Burgess Shale biota," see Research Page for more information.

ACADEMIC LINKS:

• Associate Professor, University of Toronto - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

• Associate Professor, University of Toronto - Earth Sciences Department

See also Focus on Research page.

STUDENTS:

Lorna O'Brien (Phd) - (2008-current)

Cédric Aria (PhD) - (2012-current)

Martin Smith (Phd) completed (2008-2012)

Allison Daley (PhD) completed (2006-2010)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Google scholar profile, with list of citations, click here.

• Daley A, Budd G, & Caron, J-B (2013) Morphology and systematics of the anomalocaridid arthropod Hurdia from the Middle Cambrian of British Columbia and Utah. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology First published online 22 Mar 2013. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.732723

• Caron J-B, Conway Morris S & Cameron C. (2013) Tubicolous enteropneusts from the Cambrian period. Nature Advance Online Publication. doi:10.1038/nature12017
  • PRESS RELEASES: ROM; University of Toronto; Cambridge University
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; National Geographic; BBC News; Science Daily.com; Live Science.com; Calgary Herald

• Legg DA, Sutton MD, Edgecombe GD, & Caron J-B (2012) Cambrian bivalved arthropod reveals origin of arthrodization. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1748):4699-4704.

• Smith M [Research completed in my lab by my former PhD student] (2012) Mouthparts of the Burgess Shale fossils Odontogriphus and Wiwaxia: implications for the ancestral molluscan radula. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 (1745):4287-4295.

• Zhao F, et al. (2012) Spatial variation in the diversity and composition of the Lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3) Chengjiang Biota, Southwest China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 346-347:54-65.

• Conway Morris S & Caron J-B (2012) Pikaia gracilens Walcott, a stem-group chordate from the Middle Cambrian of British Columbia. Biological Reviews 87(2): 480-512.
  • PRESS RELEASES: ROM; University of Toronto; Cambridge University
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; CTV News; The Globe and Mail; The Guardian; National Post; Radio Canada; La Recherche [Pikaia among the 10 most significant science finds of the year 2012]

• Minter NJ, Mángano MG, & Caron J-B (2012) Skimming the surface with Burgess Shale arthropod locomotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1733):1613-1620.
  • PRESS RELEASES: University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; CBC radio; Live Science

• O'Brien LJ & Caron J-B (2012) A New Stalked Filter-Feeder from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada. PLoS ONE 7(1):e29233.
  • PRESS RELEASES: University of Toronto
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News;

• Smith M & Caron J-B (2010) Primitive soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian. Nature 465(7297):469-472.
  • PRESS RELEASES: University of Toronto
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; Discovery Channel; Science Daily

• Caron J-B, Gaines R, Mangano G, Streng M, & Daley A (2010) A new Burgess Shale-type assemblage from the "thin" Stephen Formation of the Southern Canadian Rockies. Geology 38(9):811-814.
  • PRESS RELEASES: Pomona College
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News

• Caron J-B, Conway Morris S, & Shu D (2010) Tentaculate fossils from the Cambrian of Canada (British Columbia) and China (Yunnan) interpreted as primitive Deuterostomes. PLoS ONE 5(3):1-13.

• Zhao F, Caron J-B, Hu SX, & Zhu M (2009) Quantitative analysis of taphofacies and paleocommunities in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte. PALAIOS 24:826-839.

• Daley AC, Budd GE, Caron J-B, Edgecombe GD, & Collins D (2009) The Burgess Shale anomalocaridid Hurdia and its significance for early euarthropod evolution. Science 323:1597-1600.
  • PRESS RELEASES: ROM;
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; Discovery Channel; New Scientist; Radio Canada; The Star

• Caron J-B & Jackson DA (2008) Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258:222-256.

• Caron J-B (2008) Palaeontology: Ancient worms in armour. Nature 451(7175):133-134.

• Vannier J, et al. (2007) Tuzoia: morphology and lifestyle of a giant bivalved arthropod of the Cambrian seas. Journal of Paleontology 81:445-471.

• Conway Morris S & Caron J-B (2007) Halwaxiids and the early evolution of the lophotrochozoans. Science 315:1255-1258.
  • PRESS RELEASES: ROM;
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; LiveScience.com; Radio Canada; Reuters; Science Daily; The Star

• Caron J-B, Scheltema AH, Schander C, & Rudkin D (2007) Reply to Butterfield on stem-group "worms:" fossil lophotrochozoans in the Burgess Shale. BioEssays 29:200-202.

• Caron J-B, Scheltema AH, Schander C, & Rudkin D (2006) A soft-bodied mollusc with radula from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Nature 442:159-163.
  • SELECTED MEDIA LINKS: CBC News; Science Daily

• Caron J-B & Jackson DA (2006) Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed Community, Burgess Shale. PALAOIS 21:451-465.

• Caron J-B (2005) Banffia constricta, a putative vetulicolid from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 96:95-111.

Complete publication list by Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron (PDF)

Other relevant stories about the Burgess Shale:

Centennial of the Burgess Shale discovery:

Parks Canada;

Shale of the century: mining the rich seam of the Burgess Shale;

The Burgess Shale: Evolution's Big Bang

Re-examining the Burgess Shale

Other Links

• ROM Invertebrate Palaeontology Collections
• Burgess Shale Fieldguide (PDF)
• Yoho National Park
• UNESCO World Heritage site
• International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion - Banff, Alberta, August 3-7, 2009 (Note: The conference is now over, but click to see abstracts and group picture.)
• First Life by Sir David Attenborough
• The Nature of Things (Gone Sideways with David Suzuki)

Mistaken Point Casting project:

• Discovery Channel Canada (Daily Planet)
  • Interviews at Mistaken Point and Trenton, Ontario
    • Broadcast October 13, 2009 (first episode)
  • http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip223723