Abstract
Reply to: Zuravlev et al. (2014) Comment on “An enigmatic, possibly chemosymbiotic, hexactinellid sponge from the early Cambrian of South China”
Highlights
BioOne Complete is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses
We welcome the comment by Zhuravlev et al (2014), as it investigates an alternative interpretation of the fossils described as Decumbispongia yuani (Botting et al 2013) that we had perhaps dismissed too
The spicules are large relative to the body diameter, and the rays are significantly curved to match the surface. Such organisation is virtually impossible to reconcile with ingested spicules, and is the main reason that we dismissed the hypothesis of coprolites or other trace fossils early in our investigation
Summary
BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. We welcome the comment by Zhuravlev et al (2014), as it investigates an alternative interpretation of the fossils described as Decumbispongia yuani (Botting et al 2013) that we had perhaps dismissed too . There is no reason to suppose that Decumbispongia at all closely resembled living hexactinellids in soft tissue organisation.
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