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-skeletonA late-Ediacaran crown-group sponge animal
Wang, X.; Liu, A.G.; Chen, Z.; Wu, C.; Liu, Y.; Wan, B.; Pang, K.; Zhou, C.; Yuan, X.; Xiao, S.
Year2024
Source roleprimary-study
DOI / ID10.1038/s41586-024-07520-y
Fitness and scope
taxonomy · range · morphology · topology · methods · biogeography · ecology
Describes Helicolocellus material and a morphology-matrix placement near Hexactinellida; organic-skeleton homology remains an interpretation.
Claim ledger
Helicolocellus cantori was recovered near Hexactinellida in the cited morphology analysis; that sampled topology is not a direct-ancestor or universal animal-tree claim.
claim:taxon:helicolocellus:taxonomyThe profile is bounded to Shibantan material from the Dengying Formation and does not infer the genus’s complete distribution.
claim:taxon:helicolocellus:biogeographySessility and suspension feeding are functional inferences from the proposed sponge body plan, not observed behaviour or physiology.
claim:taxon:helicolocellus:ecologyNIGP-176531 and referred specimens preserve a large goblet-shaped body built from nested quadrate grids in a helical organization.
claim:taxon:helicolocellus:morphologyThe 551–539 Ma display interval is a formation-level envelope for the sampled material, not a global FAD, LAD or crown-sponge age.
claim:taxon:helicolocellus:fossil-rangeThe Porifera root display uses 551–0 Ma as a sampled navigation envelope from the older bound of the 551–539 Ma Helicolocellus-bearing Dengying interval to living sponges; its crown placement is morphology-matrix dependent and does not establish the phylum's origin.
claim:taxon:porifera:root-range-rc39