''Sphaerospongia'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of organism found in marine beds of
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
age. Its classification is enigmatic, but it is typically placed among the
sponges
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...
or the
receptaculites. The organism has a surface covered with hexagonal plates, and some early taxonomists placed it among the
echinoderms. It is found in close association with the
horn coral ''
Tabulophyllum
''Tabulophyllum'' is an extinct genus of horn coral belonging to the order Stariidae and family Kyphophyllidae. Specimens have been found in Devonian beds in Australia North America, and most other major areas of Devonian outcrops. The genus ...
traversensis'' in the
Onate Formation of
New Mexico, US, where it provides a substrate for the coral.
References
Paleozoic life
Sponges
{{Sponge-stub