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Helicolocellus cantori is a possible hexactinelliid sponge that grew up to around 400 mm (15.7 in) in height, with a conical body made up of small, intricate boxes, which themselves contain smaller boxes. With both the large size of the fossil material, and a “boxy” appearance, it has been proposed that Helicolocellus is a glass sponge. [1]
About 311 million years ago, in the Late Carboniferous, the order Spongillida split from the marine sponges, and is the only sponges to live in freshwater environments. [8] Some species are brightly colored, with great variety in body shape; the largest species are over 1 m (3.3 ft) across. [6] They reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Arimasia germsi is an extinct sponge from the late Ediacaran, with possible affinities to the Archaeocyatha. Estimated to be about 543 million years old, A. germsi has been identified as possibly being the oldest known archaeocyathan to date. Its fossil material was found between 1993 and 1996 from the Nama Group in Namibia. [1]
The most accepted identity is that they are hexactinellid sponges, based on observed spicules, ostia, and internal structure. [1] In 2023, a group of researchers suggested that Brooksella is a pseudofossil, finding no support for previous interpretations of it as a sponge or a trace fossil. [4] [5]
Hydnoceras species were suspension feeders, and likely remained attached to a single substrate for their entire lives, as typical for a sponge. [3] Unlike modern glass sponges, which typically live in deep marine environments, these sponges lived throughout the marine water column.
Otavia antiqua is an early sponge-like fossil found in Namibia in the Etosha National Park. It is claimed to be the oldest animal fossil, being found in rock aged between 760 and 550 million years ago. The genus was named after the Otavi Group in Namibia in which the fossils were found.
The archaeocyathans inhabited coastal areas of shallow seas. Their widespread distribution over almost the entire Cambrian world, as well as the taxonomic diversity of the species, might be explained by surmising that, like true sponges, they had a planktonic larval stage that enabled their wide spread.
Raphidonema faringdonense, a fossil sponge from the Cretaceous of England.. This list of prehistoric sponges is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the phylum Porifera, excluding purely vernacular terms.