Dirk Erpenbeck

The paper evaluates the robustness of multispecies coalescent methods for species delimitation in taxonomically complex systems using Mediterranean Tethya sponges, finding that hypothesis-testing approaches are more reliable than heuristic ones.

This study uses DNA barcoding data to analyze shallow-water demosponge biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific, revealing patterns of connectivity, endemism, and distribution with higher resolution than previous morphology-based studies.

The paper shows ecological filtering, not coevolution, better predicts microbiome composition in marine sponges, using phylogenetic and trait-based analyses.

A 125-megabase draft genome of the contractile demosponge Tethya wilhelma reveals extensive lineage-specific expansions, losses, and domain rearrangements across early metazoan neural signaling gene families.