''Peronidella'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Calcareous sponge The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite. While the spicules in most species hav ...

s found in marine sedimentary rocks dated between the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

and the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

periods.Imanov. M., Hrdlickova., S., and Gregorova., R., (2005), ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Fossils'', 3rd ed, Lisse: Rebo International, b.v., page 40Fossilworks, http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=3689, accessed 13 January 2014 These sponges had cylindrically shaped walls, with a typical diameter of 2 cm, with a small platform at the top, showing the position of the

Osculum The osculum (plural "oscula") is an excretory structure in the living sponge, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water is pumped thr ...

. Many species, such as ''Peronidella furcata'', were colonial; however, several solitary species are known. These sponges are relatively abundant in European chalks

References

Calcarea Prehistoric sponge genera Carboniferous animals of Europe Permian animals of Africa {{calcarea-stub