With the completion of a single unified classification, the Systema Porifera (SP) and
subsequent development of an online species database, the World Porifera Database …

Systematics is nowadays facing new challenges with the introduction of new concepts and
new techniques. Compared to most other phyla, phylogenetic relationships among sponges …

Geological evidence indicates that grounded ice sheets reached sea level at all latitudes
during two long-lived Cryogenian (58 and≥ 5 My) glaciations. Combined uranium-lead and …

Background Demospongiae is the largest sponge class including 81% of all living sponges
with nearly 7,000 species worldwide. Systema Porifera (2002) was the result of a large …

SUMMARY microRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 22‐nucleotide noncoding RNA
regulatory genes that are key players in cellular differentiation and homeostasis. They might …

Background Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, hydroids, jellyfish) is a phylum of relatively
simple aquatic animals characterized by the presence of the cnidocyst: a cell containing a …

The phylum Cnidaria is comprised of remarkably diverse and ecologically significant taxa,
such as the reef-forming corals, and occupies a basal position in metazoan evolution. The …

One of the major questions in the evolution of animals is the transition from unicellular to
multicellular organization, which resulted in the emergence of Metazoa through a …

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are a diverse taxon of benthic aquatic animals of great
ecological, commercial, and biopharmaceutical importance. They are arguably the earliest …

The most diverse and species-rich class of the phylum Porifera is Demospongiae. In recent
years, the systematics of this clade, which contains more than 7000 species, has developed …