Many corals and sponges form skeletons that support and shape their bodies. Whereas biomineralization—the formation of these skeletons—has been intensively studied in corals, the main ecosystem ...

Prof. YUAN Xunlai from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team have discovered a late Ediacaran crown-group sponge, Helicolocellus, from the ...

The research is published in Science Advances. Fossil evidence and sponge skeletons Living sponges have skeletons composed of millions of microscopic glass-like needles called spicules. These spicules ...

PROF. DENDY'S memoir (in Acta Zoologica, 1921, pp. 95-152, 50 figures) on the evolution of the tetraxonid sponge-spicule will appeal equally to those interested in problems of evolution or in ...

April 26 (UPI) --New research suggests ocean sponges aren't as sedentary as once thought. Recent surveys of the Arctic seabed revealed trails of light brown sponge spicules, needle-like support ...

Sponges are animals that do incredible impressions of inanimate objects. They have no nervous, digestive, or circulatory systems. They have no symmetry—no left or right, no front or back. And their ...

Imagine a future in which buildings tower miles over the streets below, tourists take day trips to the edge of our atmosphere, and multiple space stations can be spotted drifting across the night sky.

The Venus' flower basket sea sponge has hair-like appendages that hold it in place on the sea floor. Researchers show that the internal structure of those fibers is fine-tuned for strength. The ...

Judging by their name alone, orange puffball sea sponges might seem unlikely paragons of structural strength. But maintaining their shape at the bottom of the churning ocean is critical to the ...