Helicolocellus specimens preserve a large goblet-shaped body with nested quadrate grids; a morphology matrix places the taxon within crown Porifera near Hexactinellida.
claim:event:helicolocellus-organic-skeletonHelicolocellus organic-skeleton hypothesis
A late-Ediacaran lattice-bearing organism supplies an explicit, testable crown-sponge hypothesis without making biomineralized spicules mandatory.
Represented range551–539 Ma
RegionsShibantan Member, Dengying Formation, Hubei, China
CladesHelicolocellus cantori · Hexactinellida · Porifera
Claim ledger
References
- A late-Ediacaran crown-group sponge animalWang, X.; Liu, A.G.; Chen, Z.; Wu, C.; Liu, Y.; Wan, B.; Pang, K.; Zhou, C.; Yuan, X.; Xiao, S. · 2024 · DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07520-y