Minchinellidae

Minchinellidae is a family of calcareous sponges, members of the class Calcarea. It is the only family in the monotypic order Lithonida. The families Petrobionidae (genus Petrobiona) and Lepidoleuconidae (genus Lepidoleucon) have also sometimes been placed within Lithonida, though more recently they have been moved to the order Baerida. Thanks to their hypercalcified structure, minchinellids have a fossil record reaching as far back as the Jurassic Period.

Minchinellidae
Temporal range:
Porosphaera globularis fossil from the Cretaceous of Germany
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Calcarea
Order: Lithonida
Vacelet, 1981
Family: Minchinellidae
Dendy & Row, 1913
Genera

see text.

Synonyms
  • Bactronellidae Laubenfels, 1955
  • Petrostomidae Laubenfels, 1936
  • Porosphaeridae Laubenfels, 1955
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.