Ordovician Sponge Research Articles

Ordovician sponges from the Lenoir Limestone, Tennessee: new evidence for a differential sponge distribution along the margins of Laurentia

AbstractFive genera of anthaspidellid and streptosollenid demosponges are described from the Ordovician Lenoir Limestone near Lenoir City, Loudon County, Tennessee, USA including:Rhopalocoelia regularisRaymond and Okulitch,Rugocoelia loudonensisn. sp.,Psarodictyumsp. (Anthaspidellidae),Allosacus pedunculatusn. sp., andZitelella variansRaymond and Okulitch (Streptosolenidae). These findings confirm the major paleobiogeographic picture for Laurentian sponges (i.e., the differential distribution of sponge faunas along both North American margins), because none of these eastern margin species has been reported from western margin faunas. Only one genus typical of the Great Basin fauna,RugocoeliaJohns, 1994, is reported from Tennessee, but as a new species. Possible explanations are discussed for this differential distribution, mainly related to climatic constraints or sedimentary differences, preventing the free distribution of sponge species between Laurentian continental margins.UUID:http://zoobank.org/2b990a4c-7bc8-4eb6-b8a9-fe4ecf7bdbf9

Acutipuerilis and other non-lithistid sponges from the early Silurian of the Southern Urals, Russia

ABSTRACTDespite the recent discovery of abundant and diverse latest Ordovician sponges in China, early Silurian sponges are generally scarce, and non-lithistid, spiculate sponges remain poorly known. This is particularly true outside of a few well-studied regions, and monographic biases strongly influence the published record of the group. A new, well-preserved example of the spinose reticulosan Acutipuerilis from the Silurian of the southern Ural Mountains represents the first such fossil from this region and the first post-Ordovician asthenospongiid. Hexaradiate heteractinid spicules assigned to Toquimiella? sp. co-occur in the same rocks with fragments of other reticulosans including the reticulosan Plectoderma? sp., but no other fully articulated remains have been found. These three genera were previously known only from their type localities in Laurentia and Avalonia, in different environments, and the remarkable co-occurrence here raises the possibility of a change in sponge ecology and distribution following the Hirnantian Extinction.

Dispersal and endemic diversification: Differences in non-lithistid spiculate sponge faunas between the Cambrian Explosion and the GOBE

Non-lithistid spiculate sponges were major components of Cambrian and Ordovician communities, but currently there is limited understanding of how sponge distribution patterns developed during the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). We compiled data on Cambrian and Ordovician sponge occurrences from the literature and our own research. Sponge genera were widely distributed during the Cambrian Period, with broadly consistent assemblages between palaeocontinents, from different palaeolatitudes, and over a timespan of approximately 25Myr. Sponges exhibited a marked shift from cosmopolitan to highly endemic genera during the Tremadoc and later Ordovician. Surviving Cambrian genera continued to be very widespread, but taxa that originated during the Ordovician had much narrower geographic and environmental ranges, perhaps related to the origination of modern-style, patchy ecology. The cosmopolitanism of the Cambrian faunas is suggestive of rapid dispersal of recently evolved groups without competition from pre-existing sponges, suggesting that sponges had not diversified during the Precambrian. In contrast, the Ordovician record indicates local diversification against a complex ecological backdrop. Based on the ecological record of sponges, the Cambrian Explosion was a fundamentally different process to the GOBE.

Efficient Ornamentation in Ordovician Anthaspidellid Sponges

Lithistid orchoclad sponges within the family Anthaspidellidae Ulrich in Miller, 1889 include several genera that added ornate features to their outer-wall surfaces during Early Ordovician sponge radiation. Ornamented anthaspidellid sponges commonly constructed annulated or irregularly to regularly spaced transverse ridge-and-trough features on their outer-wall surfaces without proportionately increasing the size of their internal wall or gastral surfaces. This efficient technique of modifying only the sponge's outer surface without enlarging its entire skeletal frame conserved the sponge's constructional energy while increasing outer-wall surface-to-fluid exposure for greater intake of nutrient bearing currents. Sponges with widely spaced ridge-and-trough ornament dimensions predominated in high-energy settings. Widely spaced ridges and troughs may have given the sponge hydrodynamic benefits in high wave force settings. Ornamented sponges with narrowly spaced ridge-and-trough dimensions are found in high energy paleoenvironments but also occupied moderate to low-energy settings, where their surface-to-fluid exposure per unit area exceeded that of sponges with widely spaced surface ornamentations.

Ordovician sponge spicules from Spitsbergen, Nevada and Newfoundland: new evidence for hexactinellid and demosponge early diversification

Unusually well-preserved spicule assemblages from three Lower to Middle Ordovician localities are examined: Spitsbergen (Floian-Dapingian), Nevada (Vinini Formation, Dapingian) and Newfoundland (Cow Head Group, Tremadocian-lower Darriwilian, and Table Head Group, mid-Darriwilian). The recorded diversity increases the knowledge of sponge spicules in the Lower Ordovician and their palaeogeographical distribution. Hexaster type microscleres and scopules, equinate hexactins, pinular hexactins and inflated pentactins and hexactins are the main spicule types amongst the Hexactinellida. Hemidiscs and a possible amphidisc are recorded and can be evidence of the presence of the hexactinellid subclass Amphidiscophora. Oxyasters, C-shaped sigmata and trianes are the main spicule types amongst demosponges. The presence of sigmata and oxyasters can also be evidence of the presence of two main orders of extant demospongids: Sigmatophora (now Spirophorida) and Astrophora. One modified octactinellid spicule type is found from Calcarea. The presence of echinate and pinulate hexactins amongst megascleres suggests a protective functional morphology. These features can be associated with an evolutionary tendency which is seen mainly amongst hexactinellids and demosponges for an efficient occupation of shallower settings and/or a defensive armoury strategy. A newly recorded flat-top pinulate form is also a suitable element for reinforcement or protection of any external surface. Some of the microscleres found can be considered ancient homologues of recent hexasters, sceptrules, hemi/amphidiscs and oxyasters. This work suggests that the microscleres of hexactinellid and demosponge subclasses were already present and significantly diversified in the Early Ordovician. The presence of definite axial canals in scopules provides key evidence for this statement. This finding is significant and confirms the presence of the Sceptrulophora in the early Palaeozoic. The microscleres comes from widely separated Lower Ordovician localities and possess similar forms to those found in Mesozoic microscleres, implying a conservative morphology.

Ordovician sponges (Porifera) and other silicifications from Baltica in Neogene and Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the Netherlands and northern Germany

Fluvial deposits of Miocene to Early Pleistocene age in Germany and the Netherlands were laid down in the delta of the Eridanos River System, but the exact provenance of this material continues to be a subject of discussion. The aim of the present study is twofold. Firstly, a comparison of Ordovician sponges in these deposits with those from northern Estonia and the St Petersburg region (Russia) demonstrates that these erratics originated from the drainage area of the Pra Neva, a tributary of the Eridanos. Secondly, the importance of Late Ordovician silicified boulders, which yield forms of preservation that are unknown in comparable fossils, preserved in situ, is outlined. Some recommendations for future studies are made.

Ordovician sponges from the Montgomery Limestone, Taylorsville area, northern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

Ordovician sponges from the Montgomery Limestone, Taylorsville area, northern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

Ordovician sponges from west-central and east-central Alaska and western Yukon Territory, Canada

Ordovician sponges from west-central and east-central Alaska and western Yukon Territory, Canada

Evolutionary History of Cambrian Spiculate Sponges: Implications for the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna

Broad-scale analyses of Cambrian spiculate sponges are scarce. The apparent differences between Cambrian and Ordovician sponge faunas were included in Sepkoski's concept of evolutionary faunas; in these, sponges were regarded as minor contributors to the Paleozoic and modern faunas and insignificant in the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna. More recent published occurrences of Cambrian and Ordovician spiculate sponges and the inclusion of archaeocyaths in the phylum Porifera, however, have altered our understanding of the significance of sponges among Cambrian faunas. The majority of Cambrian occurrences appear to be segregated into two major associations: lower Cambrian sponges in China, and middle Cambrian sponges in North America, primarily British Columbia and Utah. The main associations of spiculate sponges are in siliciclastic deposits from middle-to-deep muddy shelf and basin environments, whereas orchoclad demosponges are associated with shallow carbonate environments. Four main aspects of sponge biology are considered potential factors dictating the distribution of sponges in the Cambrian: their trophic requirements, hydrodynamic constraints, possible biogeochemical constraints, and the sponge-sediment relationship. A series of critical steps in sponge evolutionary history occurred during the interval from the Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary to the middle– late Ordovician. The lower–middle Cambrian faunas are considered to be a Cambrian evolutionary sponge fauna, with archaeocyaths and diverse monaxonid demosponges as distinctive components. There was a transitional fauna in the upper Cambrian–Lower Ordovician, with orchoclad lithistids dominating shallow environments. Hexactinellids began to colonize nearshore siliciclastic settings during this time. The third interval, Middle–Upper Ordovician, corresponds to the Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna, which is the interval during which lithistids diversified in several suborders and families and the stromatoporoid and sphinctozoan calcified sponges experienced their first radiation.

The Ordovician sponge Palaeomanon cratera (Roemer, 1848) as an erratic on Gotland (Sweden)

Recent cataloguing of collections of Late Ordovician erratic sponges from Gotland (Sweden) in Swedish museums has revealed the presence of Palaeomanon cratera (Roemer, 1848), previously known only from Silurian strata in Tennessee (USA) and the Northwest Territories (Canada). The species forms part of a rich sponge assemblage occurring on Gotland, representing one of three associations in north and northwest Europe, and originating from unknown source areas in Baltica. Palynomorphs extracted from adhering sediment document a Late Ordovician (Ashgill) age; thus, they are the oldest representatives of the species known to date. Naturally, this has implications for the palaeobiogeography of Palaeomanon, in relation to faunal exchange between Baltica and Laurentia; a possible migration from Baltica to Laurentia is discussed.

A new Ordovician astylospongiid sponge (Porifera) as an erratic from Baltica

AbstractUntil now hemispherical astylospongiid sponges were invariably referred to as Caryospongia juglans var. basiplana Rauff. Renewed investigations have now shown that part of the material should be assigned to a new genus and species, Tympanospongia vankempeni, which is characterised by a system of very irregular canals. These flat-based sponges originate from the Baltic region and occur in two assemblages of silicified Late Ordovician sponges known exclusively as erratics from The Netherlands and northern Germany. These fossils were transported by the River Eridanos, a former drainage system from the Baltic region that filled the North European Basin during the Miocene to Early Pleistocene. Specimens of Tympanospongia vankempeni gen. et sp. nov. also occur in the Upper Pleistocene of Gotland, Sweden. The new sponge described herein principally differs from other genera of the Astylospongiidae found frequently in the erratic sponge assemblages by its irregular system of apochetes which ramify and anastomose commonly.

Lower Ordovician sponge bioherms in the Makkol Formation, Taebaeksan Basin, mideast Korea

Isolated sponge bioherms are documented from the Lower Ordovician Makkol Formation of the Taebaek Group in the Taebaeksan Basin, mideast Korea. They are formed by an association of a lithistid spongeArchaeoscyphia, a receptaculidCalathium and stromatolitic algae, and share many features with the Lower Ordovician buildups known elsewhere. These bioherms were established in an incised bottom and reached up to about 1 m in height. As the bioherms grew upward, they were more severely affected by intense wave action and frequent storms, which eventually perished the bioherms. The occurrence ofArchaeoscyphia-Calathium association suggests a close biogeographic link between Korea and North China, supporting the paleogeographic model that the Taebaeksan Basin was connected through contiguous shallow waters to North China in the early Paleozoic.

MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN LITHISTID SPONGES FROM THE BACHU-KALPIN AREA, XINJIANG, NORTHWESTERN CHINA

Moderately diverse Middle Ordovician sponge faunas of Darriwilian (late Arenig to early Llanvirn) age have been discovered in outcrops in the Bachu-Kalpin area of the Tarim platform of Xinjiang, China. These are the first reported occurrences of early Paleozoic sponges from Xinjiang, China. These sponges occur in the Yijianfang and Dawangou Formations, which are of nearly the same age, but crop out in different areas of the platform margin. Fossil sponges discovered to date are the anthaspidellid lithistid sponges Archaeoscyphia minganensis (Billings, 1859); Hudsonospongia cyclostoma Raymond and Okulitch, 1940; Calycocoelia profunda sichuanensis Deng, 1990; Calycocoelia sp.; Pseudopalmatohindia sp.; Aulocopium sp.; Annulospongia tarimensis n. gen. and sp.; Rhopalocoelia kalpinensis n. sp.; Rhopalocoelia bachuensis n. sp.; and Zittelella xinjiangensis n. sp. They are preserved in reefal limestones and are associated with Calathium, cyanobacteria, and bryozoans, like in many North American assemblages.

Middle Ordovician lithistid sponges from the Bachu-Kalpin area, Xinjiang, northwestern China

Moderately diverse Middle Ordovician sponge faunas of Darriwilian (late Arenig to early Llanvirn) age have been discovered in outcrops in the Bachu-Kalpin area of the Tarim platform of Xinjiang, China. These are the first reported occurrences of early Paleozoic sponges from Xinjiang, China. These sponges occur in the Yijianfang and Dawangou Formations, which are of nearly the same age, but crop out in different areas of the platform margin. Fossil sponges discovered to date are the anthaspidellid lithistid sponges Archaeoscyphia minganensis (Billings, 1859); Hudsonospongia cyclostoma Raymond and Okulitch, 1940; Calycocoelia profunda sichuanensis Deng, 1990; Calycocoelia sp.; Pseudopalmatohindia sp.; Aulocopium sp.; Annulospongia tarimensis n. gen. and sp.; Rhopalocoelia kalpinensis n. sp.; Rhopalocoelia bachuensis n. sp.; and Zittelella xinjiangensis n. sp. They are preserved in reefal limestones and are associated with Calathium, cyanobacteria, and bryozoans, like in many North American assemblages.

Ordovician erratic sponges from Gotland, Sweden

Erratic Ordovician sponges (Porifera) from Gotland in the collections of the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm and the Natural Museum in Visby were subject of an inventory, the results of which are presented in this paper. The sponges are part of an extensive and diverse Upper Ordovician sponge fauna that lived partly in tropical shelf areas and partly in a continental basin of the palaeocontinent Baltica. As a result of their transportation most of these sponges are isolated silicified bodies without adhering sediment. Since no major Ordovician sponge fauna has been found in solid rocks of Baltoscandia, the source area of these erratics is unknown. The sponges from Gotland were deposited during the Weichselian glaciation. They have been compared with erratic Ordovician sponges from Germany, The Netherlands, and Poland by a quantitative method of research. Generic composition of the sponge association from Gotland is identical to that from Sadewitz/Sawidowice (Poland), which was deposited during the Saalian glaciation. There is also a similarity to the majority of sponges in the Dutch/German border region that were deposited in glaciofluvial sediments during the Menapian (Early Pleistocene). The characteristics of the sponges from the Lausitz area (Germany) and from the Isle of Sylt (Germany), which were deposited in Middle Miocene and Late Pliocene time, respectively, are different. A supposed bipartition of these associations is discussed and related to the palaeogeography and palaeoecology in the Late Ordovician. Extinction of the Baltic sponge fauna is possibly related to the glaciations during the Hirnantian (Late Ordovician). The importance of this fossil sponge fauna is emphasized.

A varied Middle Ordovician sponge spicule assemblage from western Newfoundland

Abundant and morphologically fairly diverse siliceous sponge spicules of Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) age were collected from the Table Cove Formation of Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland. Without co-occurrence of appropriate sponge body fossils, it is difficult to refer these disarticulated sponge spicules to existing or to new taxa. However, representatives of demosponges and hexactinellids are recognized. While marked differences are noted between older and younger lithistid dendroclones, for example, spicule form in these Middle Ordovician specimens is similar overall to previously known assemblages of various ages, demonstrating the morphologically conservative nature of the spicular skeleton.

Biogeography of Ordovician sponges

Sponges have an unrealized potential importance in biogeographic analysis. Biogeographic patterns determined from our analysis of all published data on distribution of Ordovician genera indicate Early Ordovician sponge faunas have relatively low diversity and are completely dominated by demosponges. Early Ordovician (Ibexian) faunas are characterized by the widespread co-occurrence ofArchaeoscyphiaand the problematicCalathium.This association is commonly found in biohermal structures. Middle Ordovician faunas show an increase in diversity, and two broad associations are differentiated: Appalachian faunas (including Southern China and the Argentine Precordillera) and Great Basin faunas.Late Ordovician faunas show important changes in diversity and provincialism. Hexactinellid and calcareous sponges became important and new demosponge families appeared. Four Mohawkian-Cincinnatian associations are recognized here, including: 1) Midcontinent faunas; 2) Baltic faunas; 3) New South Wales faunas; and 4) Western North American (California and Alaska) faunas. However, two separate biogeographic associations are differentiated based on faunal differences. These are a Pacific association (western North American and New South Wales) and an Atlantic association (Midcontinent Laurentia and Baltica).Distribution of sponge genera and migration patterns are utilized to consider paleogeographic dispositions of the different continental plates, climatic features, and oceanic currents. Such an analysis points to close paleogeographic affinities between the Argentine Precordillera and Laurentian Appalachian faunas. However, significant endemicity and the occurrence of extra-Laurentian genera suggest a relative isolation of the Precordillera terrane during the Late Ibexian-Whiterockian. The study also shows a faunal migration from the Appalachian region to South China during the Middle Ordovician and the migration of faunas from Baltica to Laurentia in the Late Ordovician. The occurrence of Laurentian migrants in New South Wales during the Late Ordovician could be related to inferred oceanic current circulation between these two areas, although other paleogeographic features may be involved.

Lower and Middle Ordovician Lithistid Demosponges from the Mingan Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, Canada

New collections, as well as original type material, of Lower and Middle Ordovician sponges from the Mingan Island Archipelago are described and figured from the Mingan and Romaine Formations. Archaeoscyphia minganensis (Billings, 1859), Hudsonospongia minganensis Raymond and Okulitch, 1940, H. irregularis Raymond and Okulitch, 1940, H. duplicata Raymond and Okulitch, 1940, Zittelella varians (Billings, 1861a), and Eospongia roemeri Billings, 1861, are redescribed from original type specimens and new collections. The species Archaeoscyphia pulchra (Bassler, 1927), Rhopalocoelia clarkii Raymond and Okulitch, 1940, Psarodictyum magnificum Raymond and Okulitch, 1940, and Lissocoelia ramosa Bassler, 1927 are reported and described from the Mingan Islands for the first time. To these sponges are added the new species Anthaspidella amplia, Archaeoscyphia undulata, Hudsonospongia nodosa, and Zittelella grossa, which are described from type specimens from the Mingan Formation.The assemblage from 12 localities from the Mingan Formation, and one from the Romaine Formation, represents one of the most diverse demosponge faunas from eastern North America. Sponges in most of the localities accumulated as transported debris or lag gravels, but locally, some grew in small reefoidal mounds and also accumulated as adjacent debris.

An Ordovician sponge fauna from the San Juan Formation, Precordillera Basin, western Argentina

An Ordovician sponge fauna from the San Juan Formation, Precordillera Basin, western Argentina

Ordovician sponge spicules from New South Wales, Australia

An abundant, varied, and well-preserved assemblage of discrete sponge spicules of late Ordovician age is described from the Malongulli Formation of central New South Wales. It is associated with one of the most diverse Ordovician siliceous sponge faunas known. The assemblage occurs in allochthonous limestone blocks within breccia deposits of a predominantly graptolitic and spiculitic siltstone succession, and is composed mainly of hexactinellid spicule types. Included are a number of distinctive forms, recognized as new taxa—Silicunculus bengtsoni, Kometia cruciformis, Chelispongia prima, and Pseudolancicula exigua. All are new genera except Silicunculus Bengtson, 1986, which was previously described from the upper Cambrian of Queensland. The problematical Anomaloides reticulatus Ulrich, 1878, is reported for the first time from Australia. A wide variety of other diagnostic, but more generalized, spicule types also occurs, including stauractines, pinnular and nonpinnular pentactines and hexactines, ornamented oxyhexasters and echinhexasters, clavules, anchorate root-tufts, and uncinates. The pinnular pentactines may be assigned to the form genus Palaeorubus Ishiga (in Ishiga et al., 1987), interpreted incorrectly by Ishiga as a radiolarian. The sponges, discrete spicules, and radiolarians of these limestone clasts were transported in debris flows to a basinal setting from peri-platform oozes that formed on the flanks of the shallow offshore island-arc platform of the Molong High.