ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
PUBLISHED
SINCE 1952
 
Earth Science cover
Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences
ISSN 1736-7557 (Electronic)
ISSN 1736-4728 (Print)
Impact Factor (2022): 1.1
Short communication
A remarkable new halichondrid demosponge, Ptilospongia hemisphaeroidalis, from the latest Ordovician Beigong Biota, South China; pp. 50–53
PDF | https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2023.76

Authors
Lixia Li, Joachim Reitner
Abstract

A new halichondrid demosponge bubarid Ptilospongia hemisphaeroidalis gen. et sp. nov. is described from the latest Ordovician Beigong Biota in Jingxian County, Anhui Province, South China. The new taxon is well-preserved with a two-layer choanosomal skeleton structure (basal layer and erect monactines layer) and three different types of megascleres (styles, strongyles, strongyloxeas), providing an excellent insight into a bubarid affinity and indicating a previously unknown group. It probably represents the earliest known fossil record of bubarids, providing a more reliable calibration point currently available for taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic studies.

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