Earliest spicule fossils (550 Ma old) indicate radiation of Porifera Demospongiae sponges at end
of Neoproterozoic
塔里木板块最早的（新元古代末）骨针化石说明5.5亿年前多孔动物门
普通海绵纲的辐射
Hong-Xia Jiang (姜红霞)1, Ya-Sheng Wu (吴亚生)*2,3 , Ying Li (李莹)2,3,
Guo Yang (杨果)4, Wen-Qing Pan (潘文庆)4
1 Hebei International Joint Research Center for Paleoanthropology, College of Earth Science,
Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050000, China. (河北省古人类形态与演化国际联合研究中心，河北地质大学地球科学学院，石家庄，050000)
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
3 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029
4 Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Tarim Oilfield Company, PetroChina, Korla, China
*Corresponding author: Ya-Sheng Wu. Email: wys@mail.igcas.ac.cn, jianghx@hgu.edu.cn
Abstract
Abundant silica sponge spicules were recovered from an argillaceous silicalite bed at the base of the Yuertusi Formation in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China. Their features are in accordance with the spicules of Porifera Demospongiae. Small shelly fossils and carbon isotope curve indicate the spicules have an age of 550 Ma, are younger than the spicules reported from the Yangtze plate. The abundant occurrence of the Demospongiae spicules in both of the Tarim and Yangtze plates indicates radiation of Demospongiae sponges in the end of the Neoproterozoic.
Demospongiae, demosponges, sponges, porifera, Tarim, Yuertusi Formation, silica spicules.
Funding This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41972320) to Ya-Sheng Wu.
Cite it as: Jiang, H.X., Wu, Y.S. 2024.Earliest spicule fossils (550 Ma old) indicate radiation of Demospongiae poriferan sponges at end of Neoproterozoic. Biopetrology, 4(1): 23-33. https://biopetrology.com/esfiro