Porifera

Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera. They are filter feeders that are typically bound to the seabed, being sessile. Sponges are one of the most ancient members of living seabed community (macrobenthos), with many species being important reef-builders. Some sponge species inhabit freshwater.

Porifera

Twilight Zone Expedition Team 2007, NOAA-OE · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
spongePBDB
Sits inside
AnimaliaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB
Vision
blindPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 538 million years on record.

The record covers at least 538.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 635 Mya to 0 Mya.

Cambrian — about 2282 of 12000 occurrencesOrdovician — about 873 of 12000 occurrencesSilurian — about 830 of 12000 occurrencesDevonian — about 1603 of 12000 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 264 of 12000 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 2455 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 236 of 12000 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 1071 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 82 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 53 of 12000 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 1406 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 291 of 12000 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 376 of 12000 occurrencesPaleocene — about 10 of 12000 occurrencesEocene — about 89 of 12000 occurrencesOligocene — about 13 of 12000 occurrencesMiocene — about 25 of 12000 occurrencesPliocene — about 4 of 12000 occurrencesPleistocene — about 26 of 12000 occurrences648–626 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences626–605 Mya — about 2 occurrences605–583 Mya — about 2 occurrences583–561 Mya — about 2 occurrences561–540 Mya — about 2 occurrences540–518 Mya — about 928 occurrences518–497 Mya — about 1346 occurrences497–475 Mya — about 59 occurrences475–453 Mya — about 356 occurrences453–432 Mya — about 696 occurrences432–410 Mya — about 895 occurrences410–389 Mya — about 432 occurrences389–367 Mya — about 850 occurrences367–345 Mya — about 48 occurrences345–324 Mya — about 147 occurrences324–302 Mya — about 87 occurrences302–281 Mya — about 84 occurrences281–259 Mya — about 2206 occurrences259–237 Mya — about 388 occurrences237–216 Mya — about 556 occurrences216–194 Mya — about 558 occurrences194–173 Mya — about 62 occurrences173–151 Mya — about 1151 occurrences151–130 Mya — about 404 occurrences130–108 Mya — about 181 occurrences108–86 Mya — about 95 occurrences86–65 Mya — about 293 occurrences65–43 Mya — about 39 occurrences43–22 Mya — about 72 occurrences22–0 Mya — about 55 occurrences538.8 Mya11.7 ka648 Mya0 Mya

12,000+ occurrences of Porifera on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

12,000 occurrences read

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. The read hit its cap, so every figure above is a floor and the shares are of the occurrences read. More on what this infers.

Found in

at least 961 formations

Usa — 56.00°N, 88.00°ECapitan Limestone — 32.29°N, 104.34°WCapitan Limestone — 32.18°N, 104.35°WCapitan Limestone — 32.12°N, 104.45°WSaikra Biohermal Complex — 33.45°N, 10.30°ESaikra Biohermal Complex — 33.43°N, 10.28°ESaikra Biohermal Complex — 33.41°N, 10.23°EMaokou — 24.42°N, 106.50°EMaokou — 24.90°N, 105.15°EMaokou — 24.92°N, 105.12°EMaokou — 24.02°N, 105.09°EPestrotsvet — 66.40°N, 112.28°EPestrotsvet — 57.35°N, 131.20°EPestrotsvet — 60.70°N, 124.72°EPestrotsvet — 60.82°N, 125.00°EPestrotsvet — 60.92°N, 125.77°EPestrotsvet — 60.83°N, 125.40°EPestrotsvet — 58.50°N, 129.50°EPestrotsvet — 57.42°N, 132.55°EMiddle Shaly Facies — 33.38°N, 10.22°ENayband — 32.37°N, 57.47°ENayband — 30.97°N, 52.99°ENayband — 32.52°N, 57.37°ENayband — 33.53°N, 51.47°ENayband — 33.60°N, 51.00°ENayband — 33.97°N, 50.40°ENayband — 30.25°N, 57.17°ENayband — 32.93°N, 52.03°ENayband — 33.12°N, 51.98°ENayband — 34.12°N, 57.93°EBlacourt — 50.83°N, 1.77°ESalaany Gol — 46.87°N, 95.80°ESalaany Gol — 47.15°N, 96.90°EAmouslek — 30.38°N, 8.68°WAmouslek — 30.38°N, 8.80°WAmouslek — 30.18°N, 9.03°WCassian — 46.64°N, 12.20°ECassian — 46.55°N, 11.93°ECassian — 46.52°N, 11.96°ECassian — 46.52°N, 11.65°ECassian — 46.68°N, 12.15°ECassian — 46.54°N, 12.25°EDjebel Tebaga Biohermal Complex — 33.42°N, 10.18°ESanta Lucia — 42.97°N, 6.20°WSanta Lucia — 42.87°N, 5.28°WSanta Lucia — 42.87°N, 5.42°WSanta Lucia — 42.88°N, 5.10°WSanta Lucia — 42.84°N, 5.65°WChangxing — 29.42°N, 110.90°EChangxing — 29.92°N, 106.43°EChangxing — 24.90°N, 105.15°EChangxing — 29.89°N, 106.50°EChangxing — 24.91°N, 105.13°EChangxing — 30.38°N, 106.85°EChangxing — 29.83°N, 106.43°EChangxing — 30.48°N, 109.05°EChangxing — 30.05°N, 108.93°EChangxing — 30.08°N, 108.86°EChangxing — 30.22°N, 109.05°EChangxing — 25.83°N, 106.08°EDjebel Tebaga — 33.37°N, 10.18°ESekwi — 59.27°N, 129.18°WSekwi — 63.55°N, 129.25°WSekwi — 63.75°N, 128.80°WSekwi — 63.73°N, 129.05°WMacocha — 49.23°N, 16.76°EKotuy — 68.53°N, 105.23°EKotuy — 68.57°N, 105.23°EKotuy — 68.68°N, 105.03°EKotuy — 69.02°N, 103.85°EManlius — 42.99°N, 75.13°WManlius — 41.88°N, 74.05°WManlius — 41.97°N, 73.95°WManlius — 42.48°N, 73.82°WManlius — 42.64°N, 74.00°WManlius — 42.70°N, 74.15°WManlius — 42.63°N, 74.20°WManlius — 42.77°N, 74.53°WManlius — 42.91°N, 74.88°WManlius — 42.90°N, 74.96°WManlius — 42.78°N, 75.04°WManlius — 42.94°N, 75.13°WManlius — 43.00°N, 75.36°WManlius — 42.99°N, 75.52°WManlius — 42.94°N, 76.16°WManlius — 42.98°N, 75.57°WManlius — 43.03°N, 75.75°WManlius — 43.01°N, 75.96°WManlius — 42.97°N, 76.14°WManlius — 42.99°N, 76.46°WManlius — 43.45°N, 74.95°WManlius — 43.05°N, 76.15°WManlius — 42.89°N, 74.84°WPanormide — 38.13°N, 13.38°EPanormide — 37.93°N, 14.08°EPanormide — 37.90°N, 14.00°EPuerto Blanco — 30.42°N, 111.93°WPuerto Blanco — 30.42°N, 111.97°WPuerto Blanco — 30.27°N, 112.03°WPuerto Blanco — 30.70°N, 112.27°WLechkogel — 47.42°N, 13.07°ELechkogel — 47.43°N, 13.67°ELechkogel — 47.55°N, 14.52°ELechkogel — 47.70°N, 15.53°ELechkogel — 46.77°N, 14.45°ELechkogel — 46.67°N, 14.85°ELechkogel — 48.00°N, 16.23°ELechkogel — 46.78°N, 14.47°EIl'chir — 51.88°N, 94.42°ECalcaires Lites — 45.78°N, 5.52°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Porifera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. The read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 937 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 2,759 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

2,279 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 1,030 sites for Porifera, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

at least 1,037 references

Each of the 12,000 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. That read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 1,025 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Porifera

Credit
Twilight Zone Expedition Team 2007, NOAA-OE
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAnimalia through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Grant 1836