ArticleRoyal Society open science2025
Advanced adaptive strategies in an ancestral body plan: insights from a 510-Ma-old leptomitid sponge.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Oxygen regulation in the earliest animals: spatiotemporal resolution of oxygen dynamics in single-osculumFrontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Advanced adaptive strategies in an ancestral body plan: insights from a 510-Ma-old leptomitid sponge.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
Sponges have thrived in diverse environmental conditions since the early Cambrian until today. However, little is known about how their adaptive capability and strategies have been shaped throughout evolutionary history. Here, we explore this question based on a new leptomitid sponge fossil from the Cambrian Stage 4. The family Leptomitidae was an abundant sponge group inhabiting Cambrian soft substrates but significantly declined thereafter. The new species exhibits a sophisticated set of morphological characteristics adaptive to a shallow siliciclastic environment, which are unprecedented among leptomitids. These include (i) a robust body wall woven by spirally twisted monaxonic spicules; (ii) a thick stub-like root tuft for anchoring; (iii) spicules radiating out from the sponge body to prevent clogging and sinking; and (iv) the inferred capability to close the osculum against unfavourable stimuli. Nevertheless, the new fossil species maintains a leptomitid body plan and lacks modularity and morphological plasticity, the two common and critical attributes in extant sponges to enhance flexibility and resilience in changing environmental conditions. This juxtaposition of evolutionary innovation and structural conservatism offers a compelling case for further exploration of the evolutionary mechanisms that shaped early sponge lineages.
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