Capsospongia Temporal range: Middle Cambrian,
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Artist's restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera |
Class: | Demospongiae |
Family: | †Anthaspidellidae |
Genus: | †Capsospongia Rigby 1986 |
Species: | †C. undulata
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Binomial name | |
†Capsospongia undulata Walcott 1920
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Capsospongia, formerly known as Corralia or Corralio, is a middle Cambrian sponge genus known from 3 specimens in the Burgess shale.[1] Its type and only species is Capsospongia undulata. It has a narrow base, and consists of bulging rings which get wider further up the sponge, resulting in a conical shape. Its open top was presumably used to expel water that had passed through the sponge cells and been filtered for nutrients.
Like most sponges, Capsospoingia had a spicular skeleton; long spicules parallel to the growth direction formed columns which were connected by shorter lateral spicules.