Research interests

Phylogenomics and systematics

Phylogenies are an extremely valuable tool in many fields of biology like ecology, molecular biology, physiology or taxonomy. Not only they reveal the evolutionary relationships between taxa, but they also inform about the processes that led to the formation of those taxa, such as colonization events, hybridizations or extinctions. I use both phylogenomic and phylogenetic approaches to study the diversification different groups of chelicerates.

I am also interested in the use of phylogenies for assessing community similarity regarding phylogenetic diversity and for informing in conservation actions, as two communities equally diverse in terms of taxonomy may have very different evolutionar histories.

Community ecology

Studies on community ecology have a great importance in understanding ecosystem functioning and in helping take well-informed conservation decisions. My work in this area tries to understand the environmental, historical and ecological drivers that shape Iberian spider communities in terms of their taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity.

Spider taxonomy

Spiders (order Araneae) are one of the most diverse orders of organisms in the World with more than 49,000 species. However, we still know very little about them and new species are being discovered regularly. My work in spider taxonomy involves combining morphological and molecular data to determine the boundaries between species and, given the case, describe new taxa.