Download or read book Fossil and Recent Sponges written by Joachim Reitner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fossil and Recent Sponges contains articles on taxonomic, phylogenetic and ecological aspects of sponges of both biological and paleontological interest. They focus on three main topics: phylogeny and systematics, biology, and paleoecology of sponges. The reader is offered an overview over the most important aspects of current sponge research: - establishment of a new taxonomy based on mono phyletic groups (phylogenetic systematics) including recent and fossil taxa - new concepts of the biomineralisation of sponge skeletons - palaeoenvironmental analysis of fossil sponge buildups.