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ANIMAL EVOLUTION

Searching for sponge origins

Sponges are believed by many researchers to be the earliest living animal group, but there is conflicting evidence for the timing of their origin. A molecular fossil discovery supports the contention that sponges appeared very early, but starkly contradicts the body fossil record.

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Fig. 1: Sponge evolution as inferred from the molecular versus the body fossil record.

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Correspondence to Joseph P. Botting.

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Botting, J.P., Nettersheim, B.J. Searching for sponge origins. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 1685–1686 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0702-4

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