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Protospongia gracilis
Taxonomy
Protospongia gracilis was named by Xiao et al. (2005). Its type specimen is NIGPAS-134522, an other (sponge), and it is a compression fossil. Its type locality is stone coal quarry near the village of Lantian, which is in a Meishucunian marginal marine coal in the Hetang Formation of China.
Sister species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Protospongia gracilis Xiao et al. p. 99 figs. 3 G-H |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Protospongia gracilis Xiao et al. 2005
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| S. Xiao et al. 2005 | A thin-walled protosponge with slen- der tubular skeletal net. Skeletal net composed princi- pally of stauracts, but with some hexacts. Stauracts with elongate vertical rays that are parallel to the long axis of the skeletal net. Quadrules are irregularly arranged. Spicular ranks are not apparent. Longitudinal rays of stauracts converge at oscular margin. Some horizontal rays protrude from sponge surface.
Sponges about 3–5 mm in diameter and 30–70 mm in height. Stauracts have ray diameters of approximately 0.03–0.05 mm and ray lengths of 2– 3 mm (vertical rays) and 0.8 mm (horizontal rays). Quadrules vary in size, about 0.5–1 mm in maximum dimensions. Stauracts in the holotype (Fig. 3G) appear to be arranged such that the horizontal rays are somewhat bundled, but this may be a preservational artifact. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: g = genus, c = class | |||||
| References: Kiessling 2004, Caron and Jackson 2008 | |||||
Age range: Meishucunian or 530.70000 to 521.00000 Ma
Collections: one only
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meishucunian | China (Anhui) | Protospongia gracilis (type locality: 96370) |