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If confirmed, tubes in 890-million-year-old rock may be the oldest animal fossils

If the fossils turn out to be sea sponges, they’d mark a remarkably early start to animal life

image of the mesh skeleton on a modern bath sponge

This fragment of the skeleton of a modern bath sponge (Spongia officinalis) highlights the animal’s 3-D meshwork. A putative ancient sponge sports a similar structure, a new study claims.

E.C. Turner/Nature 2021

By Jake Buehler

- More than 2 years ago

Pale, wormlike tubes in 890-million-year-old rock may be ancient sea sponges, a new study concludes.