Scientists predict that sponges—among the most basic animals—arose a few hundred million years before the occurrence of the oldest confirmed fossil specimens, which date to about 500 million years ago ...

150 to 200 million years ago, when hexactinellid glass sponges built the largest biotic structure ever formed on Earth, a 7,000-kilometre-long reef that stretched from what is now Europe to the ...

Sponges are some of the oldest known creatures on Earth, with some sponge fossils dating back 600 million years! Dr Chris has ... and may apply the reef-improvement techniques to other marine ...