News in Brief Paleontology

Possible ancestor of sponges found

Exquisite details of 600-million-year old fossil similar to cell structure seen in today’s marine animals

sponge fossil

TINY BUT EXQUISITE  A scanning electron micrograph of a fossil just 1.2 millimeters wide, found in southern China, has a shape and some details that look like sponges.

Image courtesy of Zongjun Yin.

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

A beautifully preserved 600-million-year-old fossil shows actual cells that make it the best candidate yet for an ancestor of sponge animals, researchers propose.