Capsospongia

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.

Capsospongia
Temporal range: Middle Cambrian, Burgess shale
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Family: †Anthaspidellidae
Genus: †Capsospongia
Rigby 1986
Species:
†C. undulata
Binomial name
†Capsospongia undulata
Walcott 1920

Like most sponges, Capsospoingia had a spicular skeleton; long spicules parallel to the growth direction formed columns which were connected by shorter lateral spicules.

  • "Capsospongia undulata". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011.

References
  1. 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. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.