Minchinellidae

Minchinellidae
Temporal range: Jurassic–recent
Porosphaera globularis fossil from the Cretaceous of Germany
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Calcarea
Order: Lithonida
Vacelet, 1981
Family: Minchinellidae
Dendy & Row, 1913
Genera

see text.

Synonyms
  • Bactronellidae Laubenfels, 1955
  • Petrostomidae Laubenfels, 1936
  • Porosphaeridae Laubenfels, 1955

Minchinellidae is a family of calcareous sponges, members of the class Calcarea.[1] It is the only family in the monotypic order Lithonida. The families Petrobionidae (genus Petrobiona)[2] and Lepidoleuconidae (genus Lepidoleucon)[3] have also sometimes been placed within Lithonida, though more recently they have been moved to the order Baerida.[4] Thanks to their hypercalcified structure, minchinellids have a fossil record reaching as far back as the Jurassic Period.[3][4]

  1. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Minchinellidae Dendy & Row, 1913". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  2. ^ Vacelet, Jean; Borojevic, Radovan; Boury-Esnault, Nicole; Manuel, Michaël (2002), Hooper, John N. A.; Van Soest, Rob W. M.; Willenz, Philippe (eds.), "Order Lithonida Vacelet, 1981, Recent", Systema Porifera, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 1185–1192, doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-0747-5_121, ISBN 978-0-306-47260-2
  3. ^ a b Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part E, Revised. Porifera, Volume 3: Classes Demospongea, Hexactinellida, Heteractinida & Calcarea, xxxi + 872 p., 506 fig., 1 table, 2004, available here. ISBN 0-8137-3131-3.
  4. ^ a b Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part E, Revised. Porifera, Volumes 4 & 5: Hypercalcified Porifera, Paleozoic Stromatoporoidea & Archaeocyatha, liii + 1223 p., 665 figs., 2015, available here. ISBN 978-0-9903621-2-8.