Sphaerocoeliidae is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

family of calcareous sponges, the only family in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

order Sphaerocoeliida. Sphaerocoeliids are one of several unrelated sponge groups described as "sphinctozoans", with a distinctive multi-chambered body structure. Sphaerocoeliids persisted from the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

to the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

stage of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

, a longer period of time than most other "sphinctozoans". Sphaerocoeliids make up the majority of calcareous "sphinctozoans", as well as a large portion of post-Triassic "sphinctozoan" diversity.''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' Part E, Revised. Porifera, Volume 3: Classes Demospongea, Hexactinellida, Heteractinida & Calcarea, xxxi + 872 p., 506 fig., 1 table, 2004, availabl
here
.''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' Part E, Revised. Porifera, Volumes 4 & 5: Hypercalcified Porifera, Paleozoic Stromatoporoidea & Archaeocyatha, liii + 1223 p., 665 figs., 2015, availabl
here
. "Sphinctozoans" and the similar "inozoans" were historically grouped together in the

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

order Pharetronida. In general form, sphaerocoeliids are cylindrical, as a chain of dome-shaped chambers stacked up on each other. Each layer is pierced by a central

osculum The osculum (: oscula) is an excretory structure in the living sponge, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water is pumped through ...

(outflow vent), which has the form of a simple hole. Sphaerocoeliids are hypermineralized, with a skeleton of loose calcareous spicules cemented together in calcite walls.

Genera

* †'' Barroisia'' Munier-Chalmas, 1882 –Cretaceous ( urassic–Cretaceous ( Aptian">urassic–Cretaceous (Aptian–Cenomanian)* †''Sphaerocoelia">Aptian–Cenomanian)">Aptian">urassic–Cretaceous (Aptian–Cenomanian)* †''Sphaerocoelia'' Steinmann, 1882 [Permian–Cretaceous (Cenomanian)] * †''Sphinctonella'' Hurcewicz, 1975 [Jurassic (Oxfordian (stage), Oxfordian)] * †''Thalamopora'' Roemer, 1840 [Jurassic–Cretaceous (Cenomanian)] * †'' Tremacystia'' Hinde, 1884 retaceous (Albian–Cenomanian)">Albian.html" ;"title="retaceous ( retaceous (Albian–Cenomanian)

References

{{Taxonbar">from=Q33135588">from2=Q19328570 Calcaronea Permian first appearances Cenomanian extinctions Prehistoric sponge families">Cenomanian extinctions">Calcaronea Permian first appearances Cenomanian extinctions Prehistoric sponge families