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Is this a sponge fossil like the present day example in the picture below? Or a trace fossil? It came from a site that has many Permian marine invertebrates. If it is a burrow trace, have many seen examples of the passages leading to a main burrow? Apologies for quality of photo was taken on phone.

I posted once before on cladorhizids. A single image this time. Note scale and to show the difference between a dredged and an in-place Chondrocladia

I believe i found my first Ordovician sponge fossil while hunting road cuts. Can anyone confirm if this is an Astylospongia or something else?

Hello all. I believe this a form of sponge but I'm not sure. It was found on the Norfolk coast, UK. Any help appreciated, thanks

This is my property, about 100 acres total. About 25 miles south of grand canyon and just 6 miles from grand canyon caverns at 5400 feet elevation. The first picture is a hill just outside my door, take the dog up this everyday when we go for our walk. Every rock in this picture has fossils on them. An example is the second picture. About 1/8 mile into the trees there is a trail I've made over the years with the quad. I've just recently realized a section of that trail is like an ancient seabed. All red ,airy rocks -light but hard to actually break. Every rock you pick up is embedded with fossils, mostly shells I think. An example is the third picture. I'm thinking this was perhaps a sponge/coral reef because of all the tiny holes or was this just sediment? Any thoughts or comments would be most appreciated. Thanks (Oops, wasted too much memory on that hillside, will post red rock separately ) This is the example of the red rocks that make up the trail

Found this sponge on the beach in Beach Haven, NJ. Wondering if anyone could tell me if its modern or Pleistocene (I ask bc I have heard of Pleistocene fossils being found off of NJ's coastline Two more angles

Found in a quarry near Rockford, Illinois, Ordovician, Galena group. It looks like a sponge, but I can't seem to find a match. Any help appreciated.

Here is another specimen that I have found. I haven't been able to identify it with any research so far so any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is another picture with a ruler so you can tell the size of the sponge that I posted the other day. Perhaps it will help in identifying it.. Thank you.

I've always been fascinated with the chaetetid sponge reefs that dominate the limestone beds of the Pennsylvanian Marmaton Group. Since these strata outcrop thirty to fifty miles east of the Kansas City metro, I don't have many opportunities to find them. This weekend, we drove out to a family event in southeast Missouri. I took the opportunity to check out a road cut in the Pawnee Formation near Holden, Missouri that I had read about in a publication. The chaetetids are present in the Coal City Limestone member of the Pawnee. At the expected spot, I encountered the black Anna Shale and a thick limestone that could be the Coal City: The limestone was basically barren. When I stepped back, I noticed that there are actually two limestones in the cut: Yeah, now I remember. The lower ledge is the Myrick Station Limestone. The one I'm looking for is on top. Up close, it appears to be an impenetrable wall. No fossils could be seen on the weathered joint surface or in the rubble:

I was at one of the Monmouth Co Brooks this week and found this odd looking thing and at first I thought it was a concretion but it doesn't look like any I have seen before and I have seen many many many of them. I think it might be a sponge of some kind I have seen them in the M.A.P.S. collection for those who is familiar with the collection. I would like to hear from my fellow forum members and a few opinions if this maybe a possible sponge. I just found this post from 2012

Might be new to some of you. Biogeographically speaking, disturbing behaviour _reassessment_of_putative_Acheul_Porifosp.pdf outtake:

hello, this is my first post i know nothing about fossils. my 6 year old daughter found this today & was very exited to have made the discovery, i can not figure out what it might be, was thinking a type of sponge or eggs ?? it was very fragile, it also had lots of shells and other shelled sea creatures fossilised in the same rock. any help IDing it would be great. i am going to bring a piece of it to my daughters school but need to go back with some tools. thank you for sharing your knowledge !

These are a few of the pdf files (and a few Microsoft Word documents) that I've accumulated in my web browsing. MOST of these are hyperlinked to their source. If you want one that is not hyperlinked or if the link isn't working, e-mail me at joegallo1954@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send it to you. Please note that this list will be updated continuously as I find more available resources. All of these files are freely available on the Internet so there should be no copyright issues. Articles with author names in RED are new additions since April 19, 2017. Chancelloriidae (Affinity Uncertain) Mehl, D. (1998). Porifera and Chancelloriidae from the Middle Cambrian of the Georgina Basin, Australia. Palaeontology, Vol.41, Part 6. Serezhnikova, E. and A.Y. Ivantsov (2007). Fedomia mikhaili - A new spicule-bearing organism of sponge grade from the Vendian (Ediacaran) of the White Sea, Russia. Palaeoworld, 16. Phylum Porifera - Sponges Class Calcarea - Calcareous Sponges Botting, J.P. and N.J. Butterfield (2005). Reconstructing early sponge relationships by using the Burgess Shale fossil Eiffelia globosa, Walcott. PNAS, Vol.102. Number 5. Finks, R.M. (1995). Some New Genera of Paleozoic Calcareous Sponges. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Number 6. (Download from site.) Kozur, H.W., H. Mostler and J.E. Repetski (2008). A New Heteractinellid Calcareous Sponge from the Lowermost Ordovician of Nevada and a Discussion of the Suborder Heteractinellidae. Geo.Alp, Vol.5, S. Wells, J.W. A New Species of Astraeospongia from the Middle Devonian of Ohio. Class Demospongiae Blissett, D.J., R.K. Pickerill and J.K. Rigby (2006). A New Species of Boring Sponge from the White Limestone Group, Jamaica. Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol.42, Number 2. Botting, J.P., P. Cardenas and J.S. Peel (2014). A Crown-Group Demosponge from the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet Biota, North Greenland. Palaeontology, 58(1). Botting, J.P., L.A. Muir and J.-P. Lin (2013). Relationships of the Cambrian Protomonaxonida (Porifra). Palaeontologia Electronica, Vol.16, Issue 2. Brustur, T., P. Tibuleac and C. Costea (2007). A Possible Horny Sponge (Demospongia, Keratosida) from the Eastern Carpathian Outer Flysch (Romania). Geo-Eco-Marina, 13. Ehrlich, H., et al. (2013). Discovery of 505-million-year-old chitin in the basal demosponge Vauxia gracilenta. Scientific Reports, 3:3497. Garcia-Bellido, D.C. (2003). The demosponge Leptomitus cf. L. lineatus, first occurrence from the Middle Cambrian of Spain (Murero Formation, Western Iberian Chain). Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Number 1. Garcia-Bellido, D.C., et al. (2011). First report of Crumillospongia (Demospongea) from the Cambrian of Europe (Murero biota, Spain). Bulletin of Geosciences, 86(3). Garcia-Bellido, D.C., et al. (2007). The Demosponge Genus Leptomitus and a New Species from the Middle Cambrian of Spain. Palaeontology, Vol.50, Part 2. Hoare, R.D. (1978). Report of a Pennsylvanian Sponge New to Ohio: Heliospongia ramosa Girty (Demospongia: Heliospongiidae). Ohio J.Sci., 78(6). Johns, R.A. (1994). Ordovician Lithistid Sponges of the Great Basin. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, NBMG Open-File Report 94-1. Kozur, H.W., H. Mostler and J.E. Repetski (1996). 'Modern' Siliceous Sponges from the Lowermost Ordovician (Early Ibexian - Early Tremadocian) Windfall Formation of the Antelope Range, Eureka County, Nevada, USA. Geol.Palaont.Mitt. Innsbruck, Vol.21. Pisera, A. (2000). New species of lithistid sponges from the Paleogene of the Ukraine. Zoosystema, 22(2). Reitner, J. and G. Worheide (2002). Non-Lithistid Fossil Demospongiae - Origins of their Palaeobiodiversity and Highlights in History of Preservation. In: Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges. Hooper, J.N.A. and R.W.M. Van Soest (eds.), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. Rhebergen, F. (2014). A new Late Ordovician erratic anthaspidellid sponge (Porifera) originating from Baltica. Scripta Geologica, 146. Rhebergen, F. (2011). Short note on three species of Orchocladina (Demospongea, Porifera). Scripta Geologica, 143. Rhebergen, F., A. Munnecke and E. Jarochowska (2016). First report of Archaeoscyphia rectilinearis (Porifera) from the Wenlock of Gotland, Sweden. GFF, Vol.0. Rigby, J.K. and V. Gunther (2003). The Largest and Oldest Known Choia hindei (Dawson), From the Middle Cambrian of the House Range, Western Utah. BYU Geology Studies 2003, Vol.47. Rigby, J.K. and J.K. Gilland (1977). A New Fossil Sponge from the Ordovician Garden City Limestone of Southeastern Idaho. Great Basin Naturalist, Vol.37, Number 4. Senowbari-Daryan, B. and V. Zamparelli (2003). Upper Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) New Thalamid Sponges from Northern Calabria (Southern Italy). Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, XLVIII, 2. Senowbari-Daryan, B. and G.D. Stanley (1992). Late Triassic Thalamid Sponges from Nevada. J.Paleont., 66(2). Class Hexactinellida Botting, J.P. and L.A. Muir (2014). First post-Cambrian records of the reticulosan sponges Valospongia and Hintzespongia from the late Tremadocian of North Wales. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 59(1). Botting, J.P. and L.A. Muir (2011). A new Middle Ordovician (late Daphingian) hexactinellid sponge from Cumbria, UK. Geological Journal, 46. Botting, J.P., et al. (2013). An enigmatic, possibly chemosymbiotic, hexactinellid sponge from the early Cambrian of South China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 58(3). Bruckner, A. and D. Janussen (2003). The First Fossil Rossella (Porifera, Hexactinellida) from the Upper Cretaceous (Coniac) of Bornholm (Denmark) and Problems of Classification Within the Fossil Lyssacinosa. Ber.Inst.Geol.Palaont. K.-F.-Univ., Graz, Vol.7. Carter, H.J. (1879). On Holasterella, a Fossil Sponge of the Carboniferous Era, and on Hemiasterella, a new Genus of Recent Sponges. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 3. Chen, A.-L., et al. (2015). New articulated protospongiid sponges from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. Palaeoworld, 24. Harvey, T.H.P. (2010). Carbonaceous preservation of Cambrian hexactinellid sponge spicules. Biol.Lett. (2010), 6. Janussen, D. (2014). The second fossil Hyalonema species (Porifera: Hexactinellida), from the Late Cretaceous Arnager limestone, Bornholm, Denmark. Göttingen Contributions to Geosciences, 77. Mergl, M. (2008). The hexactinellid sponge Cyathophycus from the Lower Ordovician Klabava Formation of the Prague Basin, Czech Republic. Bulletin of Geosciences, 83(2). Nose, M., et al. (2014). First record of chambered hexactinellid sponges from the Palaeozoic. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 59(4). Class Homoscleromorpha Wilson, E.C. (1986). The First Tertiary Sclerosponge from the Americas. Palaeontology, Vol.29, Part 3. Class Stromatoporoidea Galloway, J.J. and G.M. Ehlers (1960). Some Middle Devonian Stromatoporoids from Michigan and Southwestern Ontario, Including the Types Described By Alexander Winchell and A.W. Grabau. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology - The University of Michigan, Vol.XV, Number 4. Stearn, C.W. (1997). Intraspecific Variation, Diversity, Revised Systematics and Type of the Devonian Stromatoporoid, Amphipora. Palaeontology, Vol.40, Part 3. Wolniewicz, P. (2012). Stromatoporoid diversity in the Devonian of the Ardennes: a reinterpretation. Geologica Belgica, 15/1-2. Class Undefined Botting, J.P. (2012). Reassessment of the problematic Burgess Shale sponge Takakkawia lineata Walcott, 1920. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 49(9). General Porifera Porifera - Africa/Middle East Botting, J.P. (2016). Diversity and ecology of sponges in the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota, Morocco. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 460. Rigby, J.K. and B. Senowbari-Daryan (1995). Upper Permian Inozoid, Demospongid, Hexactinillid Sponges from Djebel Tebega, Tunisia. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, New Series, Number 7. (Download from site.) Porifera - Asia/Malaysia/Pacific Islands Forchielli, A., et al. (2012). Taphonomy of Cambrian (Stage 3/4) sponges from Yunnan (South China). Bulletin of Geosciences, 87(1). Li, L., et al. (2015). Unusual Deep Water sponge assemblage in South China - Witness of the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Scientific Reports, 5:16060. Stiller, F. (1998). Sponges from the lower Upper Anisian (Middle Triassic) of Bangtoupo near Qingyan, SW-China. Munster Forsch.Geol.Palaont., 85. Zhang, X.-g. and B.R. Pratt (1994). New and extraordinary Early Cambrian sponge spicule assemblage from China. Geology, Vol.22. Porifera - Australia/New Zealand Kruse, P.D. (1996). Update on the northern Australian Cambrian sponges Rankenella, Jawonya and Wagima. Alcheringa, 20. Lukowiak, M.A. (2016). Fossil and modern sponge fauna of southern Australia and adjacent regions compared: interpretation, evolutionary and biogeographic significance of the late Eocene 'soft' sponges. Contributions to Zoology, 85(1). Lukowiak, M.A. (2015). Late Eocene siliceous sponge fauna of southern Australia: reconstruction based on loose spicules record. Zootaxa, 3917(1). Mehl, D. (1998). Porifera and Chancelloriidae from the Middle Cambrian of the Georgina Basin, Australia. Palaeontology, Vol.41, Part 6. Porifera - Europe (including Greenland and Siberia) Bak, M., Z. Gorny and K. Bak (2015). Sponge growth on the Cenomanian carbonate shelves of the Carpathian Basin: a record from spicule-rich turbidites. Bulletin of Geosciences, 90(3). Botting, J.P. (2004). An exceptional Caradoc sponge fauna from the Llanfawr Quarries, Central Wales and phylogenetic implications. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2(1). Castellani, C., et al. (2012). Isolated sponge spicules from the late Cambrian Alum Shale Formation ('Orsten' nodules) of Sweden. Bulletin of Geosciences, 87(3). Olszewska-Nejbert, D. and E. Swierczewska-Gladysz (2009). The phosphatized sponges from the Santonian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Wielkanoc Quarry (southern Poland) as a tool in stratigraphical and environmental studies. Acta Geologica Polonica, Vol.59, Number 4. Rhebergen, F. (2009). Ordovician sponges (Porifera) and other silicifications from Baltica in Neogene and Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the Netherlands and northern Germany. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58(1). Rushton, A.W.A. and W.E.A. Phillips (1973). A Protospongia from the Dalradian of Clare Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland. Palaeontology, Vol.16, Part 2. Ungureanu, D. and E. Barbu (2004). Endemic Features of the Upper Jurassic Sponges in the Western Central Dobrogea (Atarnati-Cechirgea Perimeter). Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae, Vol. Porifera - North America Botting, J.P. and N.J. Butterfield (2005). Reconstructing early sponge relationships by using the Burgess Shale fossil Eiffelia globosa, Walcott. PNAS, Vol.102, Number 5. Branson, C.C. (1966). Fossil Freshwater Sponges in Oklahoma. Proc. of the Okla.Acad. of Sci, Section B, Geology. King, R.H. (1932). A Pennsylvanian Sponge Fauna from Wise County, Texas. In: Contributions to Geology, 1932. University of Texas Bulletin 3201. (Note: the download includes the entire bulletin. The article on Pennsylvanian Sponges is on pages 52-62 of the pdf file. Rigby, J.K. and R.H. Mapes (2000). Some Pennsylvanian and Permian Sponges from Southwestern Oklahoma and North-Central Texas. In: Brigham Young University Geologyl Studies. Ritter, S. (ed.), Vol.45. (Thanks to DPS Ammonite for locating this one!) Rigby, J.K. and P.M. Myrow (1999). Lower Ordovician Sponges from the Manitou Formation in Central Colorado. In: Brigham Young University Geology Studies. Kowallis, B.J. (ed.), Vol.44. Rigby, J.K. and M.H. Nitecki (1968). Annotated Bibliography of Lower Paleozoic Sponges of North America. Fieldiana: Geology, Vol.18, Number 1. Rigby, J.K., R.B. Blodgett and B.B. Britt (2008). Ordovician sponges from west-central and east-central Alaska and western Yukon Territory, Canada. Bulletin of Geosciences, 83(2). Rigby, J.K., A.W. Potter and N.K. Anderson (2008). Ordovician sponges from the Montgomery Limestone, Taylorsville area, northern Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Bulletin of Geosciences, 83(3). Rigby, J.K., C.B. Linford and D.V. Lemone (1999). Sponges from the Ibexian (Ordovician) McKelligon Canyon and Victoria Hills Formations in the Southern Franklin Mountains, Texas. In: Brigham Young University Geology Studies. Kowallis, B.J. (ed.), Vol.44. (Thanks to DPS Ammonite for pointing me to this one!) Rigby, J.K., B. Senowbari-Daryan and H. Liu (1998). Sponges of the Permian Upper Capitan Limestone, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and Texas. In: Brigham Young Geology Studies. B.J. Kowallis (ed.), Vol.43. (Thanks to DPS Ammonite for finding this one!) Tihansky, A.B. and K.J. Cunningham (2007). Newly Discovered Fossil Sponges Share Scientific Secrets About Miami's Ancient Marine Environment. USGS Sound Waves, Volume FY 2007, Issue 95. Whitfield, R.P. (1905). Descriptions of New Fossil Sponges from the Hamilton Group of Indiana. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, Vol.XXI, Article XVII. Porifera - South America/Central America/Caribbean Beresi, M.S. (2007). Fossil sponges of Argentina: a review. Porifera Research: Biodiversity, Innovation and Sustainability. Beresi, M.S. (2003). Cambrian sponge spicules and Chancelloriid sclerites from the Argentine Precordillera: A review. Geologica Acta, Vol.1, Number 1. McMenamin, M.A.S. (2008). Early Cambrian sponge spicules from the Cerro Clemente and Cerro Rajon, Sonora, Mexico. Geologica Acta, Vol.6, Number 4. Pisera, A., M. Martinez and H. Santos (2006). Late Cretaceous Siliceous Sponges from El Rayo Formation, Puerto Rico. J.Paleont., 80(3). Ritterbush, K.A., et al. (2015). Andean sponges reveal long-term benthic ecosystem shifts following the end-Triassic mass extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 420. General Porifera Antcliffe, J.B., R.H.T. Callow and M.D. Brasier (2014). Giving the early fossil record of sponges a squeeze. Biological Reviews, 2014. Borchiellini, C., et al. (2001). Sponge paraphyly and the origin of Metazoa. J.Evol.Biol., 14. Botting, J.P., X. Yuan and J.-P. Lin (2014). Tetraradial symmetry in early poriferans. Chin.Sci.Bull., 59(7). Botting, J.P., L.A. Muir and J.-P. Lin (2013). Relationships of the Cambrian Protomonaxonida (Porifera). Palaeontologia Electronica, Vol.16, Issue 2. Hooper, J.N.A. (2003). 'Sponguide' Guide to Sponge Collection and Identification. Queensland Museum. Hooper, J.N.A., R.W.M. van Soest and F. Debrenne (2002). Phylum Porifera Grant, 1836. In: Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges. Hooper, J.N.A. and R.W.M. van Soest (eds.), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. Reitner, J. and D. Mehl (1995). Early Paleozoic Diversification of Sponges: New Data and Evidences. Geol.Palaont.Mitt.Innsbruck, 20. Sperling, E.A., D. Pisani and K.J. Peterson (2007). Pofireran paraphyly and its implications for Precambrian palaeobiology. In: The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota. Vickers-Rich, P. and P. Komarower (eds.), Geological Society, London. Uriz, M.-J., et al. (2003). Siliceous Spicules and Skeleton Frameworks in Sponges: Origin, Diversity, Ultrastructural Patterns and Biological Functions. Microscopy Research and Techniques, 62. Walcott, C.D. (1920). Number 6.-Middle Cambrian Spongiae. In: Cambrian Geology and Paleontology IV. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol.67, Number 6.

hello, location: Moni formation size: 6cmx3cmx3cm There is a hole in the middle

I've had poor luck with sponge posts in the past. Have I at least got these right ? They are from north eastern Maine. The rocks are likely Silurian/Devonian in age.

Ran across this in Hunt Tx and am Hopeful it's a sponge but that may be because I'm desperate to find a really good one.

I found this and a larger piece between Mt Blanco and Dougherty Tx. It is super lightweight. It doesn't float but does take its time sinking. While cleaning I noticed weird shell like markings inside where a piece was broken out (prior to my finding it). I'm not sure what to make of it but it has the characteristics of a sponge. How far off base am I?

Hello, my name is Andres. I found this in "La Pedrera beach" in Uruguay. At first I had no clue of what it was. I'm prone to think it is a sponge fossil, but would want help in this matter. I found it vaguely buried in the sand close to the shore. The sand of that beach is grainy and loaded with lots of shells of many mollusc species. If it is indeed a sponge fossil, what species it would be? Thanks in advance!

Reference : http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00644838/document. An article from Lucette Lagneau Hérenger in "Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France", Tome XLI.

hey guys im sorry im new to this i found this a long time ago not sure when but i live in michigan i found this washed up from lake huron? im not sure what it is exactly and its about 5 pounds and the size of my hand stretched out

Most of the snow has melted away in the lowlands, at least for the time being, so I took the opportunity a few days ago to drop into the ditch in the Kimmeridgian in the Danube Valley for a couple of hours. It was drizzly weather, but that didn't bother me, being happy to just get out and dig a bit. Found a few nice ammonites which I've still got to prep, but I spent an hour or so abrading this sponge today. Like I've said before, I usually leave most of the sponges where they are, but this one was complete and also quite large at 20cm. length. If I abraded the entire insides, I could fill it with tobacco and have a smoke I'm not sure, but I think it could be a Cylindrophyma sp.

This was found on a relative's farm in central Tennessee about 20 years ago. It looks like a sponge, and a museum I took it to a long time ago said it was, but I wanted to know what you guys thought. Other fossils found on the same farm include shells, coral, and tool fragments made from antlers. Some of the holes in the fossil go all the way through. Whatever it turns out to be, it's pretty cool-looking.