The sponge pump as a morphological character in the fossil record

• Published in: Paleobiology
• Main Authors: Pablo Aragonés Suarez, Sally P. Leys
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The Paleontological Society 2022
• Subjects: Mistaken Point; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2021.43

The timing of early animal evolution remains one of the biggest conundrums in biology. Molecular data suggest Porifera diverged from the metazoan lineage some 800 Ma to 650 Ma, which contrasts with the earliest widely accepted fossils of sponges at 535 Ma. However, the lack of criteria by which to r...