Siphonia
{{Short description|Extinct genus of sponges}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|125|66}}Early to Late Cretaceous (Aptian to Maastrichtian)
| image = Siphonia_e.jpg
| image_caption = S. pyriformis & S. tulipa
| taxon = Siphonia
| authority = Goldfuss, 1826
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *†S. pyriformis
- †S. tulipa
- †S. koenigi
- †S. lycoperdites
- †S. praemorsa
- †S. tubulosa
- †S. benstedii
- †S. pulchra
}}
Siphonia is a genus of extinct hallirhoid demosponges of the Lower and Upper Cretaceous, from about 125 to 66 million years ago.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=3286 Paleobiology Database] They lived in the Western Tethys Ocean, in what is now Europe.
Description
They all had distinctive pear-shaped bodies that were attached to the seafloor via a long stem. Their common name, "tulip sponges,"{{cn|date=October 2018}} refers to their suggestive shape, while the genus name refers to how the spongocoel (the main tube of the sponge body) runs almost the entire length of the sponge, as though it were almost a drinking straw.
Gallery
File: Hallirhoidae - Siphonia lycoperdites.JPG|Siphonia lycoperdites , on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
File:MHNT - Siphonia pyriformis.jpg|Siphonia pyriformis - Muséum de Toulouse (fr)
References
{{Reflist}}
- Parker, Steve. Dinosaurus: the complete guide to dinosaurs. Firefly Books Inc, 2003. Pg. 34
External links
Reconstruction of S. pyriformis [http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33737268/]
Reconstruction of S. tulipa [http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/34455414/]
Reconstruction of S. tulipa, S. pyriformis, and the related Hallirhoa costata [http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/36886143/]
Fossil S. pyriformis [http://perso.orange.fr/jean-ours.filippi/anglais/ressourcesangl/anressources/2006/june26.html]
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10371976}}
Category:Prehistoric sponge genera
Category:Late Cretaceous invertebrates
Category:Early Cretaceous animals of Europe
Category:Aptian genus first appearances
Category:Maastrichtian genus extinctions
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1826