Capsospongia
| Capsospongia Temporal range: Middle Cambrian, Burgess shale | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongae |
| Family: | Anthaspidellidae |
| Genus: | Capsospongia |
| Species: | C. undulata Walcott 1920 |
Capsospongia is a middle Cambrian sponge genus known from 2 specimens in the Burgess shale.[1] It has a narrow base, and consists of bulging rings which get wider further up the sponge, resulting in a conical shape. Its open top was presumably used to expel water that had passed through the sponge cells and been filtered for nutrients.
Like most sponges, Capsospoingia had a spicular skeleton; long spicules parallel to the growth direction formed columns which were connected by shorter lateral spicules.
External links
- "Capsospongia undulata". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011.
References
- ↑ Briggs, D.E.G.; Erwin, D.H.; Collier, F.J. (1995), Fossils of the Burgess Shale, Washington: Smithsonian Inst Press, ISBN 1-56098-659-X, OCLC 231793738
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.