Eiffelia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of sponges}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Geological range|Early Cambrian|Burgess Shale}}{{Cite journal| pages = 737–748| year = 2007| doi = 10.1016/j.geobios.2007.02.006| first1 = J.| volume = 40| title = 'Cambrian' demosponges in the Ordovician of Morocco: Insights into the early evolutionary history of sponges| journal = Geobios| last1 = Botting| issue = 6 | bibcode = 2007Geobi..40..737B}}

| taxon = Eiffelia

| authority = Walcott, 1920

| image = USNM PAL 200648 Eiffelia globosa.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil of E. globosa

| type_species = †Eiffelia globosa

| type_species_authority = Walcott, 1920

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = {{Species list

| †Eiffelia araniformis | (Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981){{cite journal|last=Skovsted|first=C. B.|year=2006|title=Small Shelly Fauna from the Upper Lower Cambrian Bastion and Ella Island Formations, North-East Greenland|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=80|issue=6|pages=1087–1112|doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[1087:SSFFTU]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=130024613 }}

| †Eiffelia globosa | Walcott, 1920 }}

| synonyms_ref = {{cite journal|last=Wrona|first=R.|year=2004|title=Cambrian microfossils from glacial erratics of King George Island, Antarctica|url=http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app49/app49-013.pdf|journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica|volume=49|issue=1|pages=13–56}}

| synonyms = *Lenastella Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981

• Actinoites Duan, 1984
• Niphadus Duan, 1984

{{collapsible list|bullets = true

|title=Eiffelia araniformis synonymy{{cite journal|last=Elicki|first=O.|year=2011|title=First skeletal microfauna from the Cambrian Series 3 of the Jordan Rift Valley (Middle East)|url=http://www.geo.tu-freiberg.de/~elicki/elicki_2011_AAPM42_Cambrian-Jordan.pdf|journal=Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists|volume=42|pages=153–173}}

|Lenastella araniformis Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981

|Lenastella aculeata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981

|Lenastella mucronata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981

|Lenastella umbonata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981

|Actinoites universalis Duan, 1984

|Actinoites simplex Duan, 1984

|Niphadus xihaopingensis Duan, 1984

|Niphadus complanatus Duan, 1984

}}

}}

Eiffelia is an extinct genus of sponges known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale as well as several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits. It is named after Eiffel Peak, which was itself named after the Eiffel Tower. It was first described in 1920 by Charles Doolittle Walcott.{{cite journal | last1 = Walcott | first1 = C. D. | year = 1920 | title = Cambrian geology and paleontology IV:6—Middle Cambrian Spongiae | url = https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29838882 | journal = Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections | volume = 67 | pages = 261–364 }} It belongs in the Hexactinellid stem group.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0405867102 | last1 = Botting | first1 = J. P. | last2 = Butterfield | first2 = N. J. | last3 = Valentine | first3 = J. W. | year = 2005 | title = Reconstructing early sponge relationships by using the Burgess Shale fossil Eiffelia globosa, Walcott | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 102 | issue = 5 | pages = 1554–1559 | jstor = 3374469 | pmid = 15665105 | pmc = 547825 | doi-access = free }} 60 specimens of Eiffelia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.11% of the community.{{cite journal|last1=Caron |first1=Jean-Bernard|last2=Jackson |first2=Donald A.|title=Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale|journal=PALAIOS |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=451–65|date=October 2006|doi=10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R|jstor=20173022|bibcode=2006Palai..21..451C |s2cid=53646959 }}

Eiffelia generally have star-shaped six-rayed spicules, with rays diverging at 60°, occasionally with a seventh ray perpendicular to the other six.