Siliceous sponges

(incl. facies, taxonomy, palaeoecology and functional morphology).

At the moment I am focused on following regions:

• Lusitanian Basin (Portugal): Early Jurassic (Toarcian) (DAAD Project together with Dr. Luis Duarte/Coimbra)
• Neuquén Basin (Argentina): Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) together with Dr. Matilde Beresi/Mendoza (Argentina)
• Southern Alps (Italy): Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian)
• Iberian Chains (Spain): Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian)
• Murcia-region (Spain): Miocene
• Germany: Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, Tithonian)

Stauroderma lochense

Recent siliceous sponges – the Sponge Reef Project

Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound off British Columbia/Canada: hexactinosidan sponge reefs and sponge biostromes (DFG Project together with Kim W. Conway and Dr. J. Vaughn Barrie, Natural Resources Canada, Pacific Geoscience Centre, Sidney, B.C./Canada)

Calcareous sponges

Jurassic and Cretaceous calcareous sponges (incl. facies, taxonomy, palaeoecology and functional morphology). At the moment I am focused on following regions:

• Lusitanian Basin (Portugal): Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Alcobaça
• Germany: Middle and Late Jurassic (Bajocian, Oxfordian – Tithonian) of southern Germany and Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of northern Germany

Stratigraphy

Ammonite biostratigraphy (focus on southern Germany)

Foraminifera associated to Jurassic and modern siliceous sponge reefs

Basin Analysis

Sedimentary Basin Research on the evolution and development of the Iberian and Lusitanian Basins (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous)

Paleontological Collection in the Web

Funded by University of Stuttgart (“100-online Project”) the paleontological collection of the Institute of Geology and Paleontology is now available online including specific data-sheet and digital images of each specimen. There is the possibility for searching and browsing.