''Vauxia'' 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 ...

demosponge Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a har ...

that had a distinctive branching mode of growth. Each branch consisted of a network of strands. ''Vauxia'' also had a skeleton of

spongin Spongin, a modified type of collagen protein, forms the fibrous skeleton of most organisms among the phylum Porifera, the sponges. It is secreted by sponge cells known as spongocytes. Spongin gives a sponge its flexibility. True spongin is found ...

(flexible organic material) common to modern day

sponges Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...

. Much like ''

Choia ''Choia'' is a genus of extinct demosponge ranging from the Cambrian until the Lower Ordovician periods. Fossils of ''Choia'' have been found in the Burgess Shale in British Columbia; the Maotianshan shales of China; the Wheeler Shale in Uta ...

'' and other sponges, ''Vauxia'' fed by extracting nutrients from the water. ''Vauxia'' is named after

Mount Vaux Mount Vaux is a mountain summit located in the Kicking Horse River valley of Yoho National Park, in the Ottertail Range of the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia, Canada. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Goodsir, to the southeast. Mount Vaux ...

, a mountain in

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It was first described in 1920 by

Charles Doolittle Walcott Charles Doolittle Walcott (March 31, 1850February 9, 1927) was an American paleontologist, administrator of the Smithsonian Institution from 1907 to 1927, and director of the United States Geological Survey.Wonderful Life (book) by Stephen Jay G ...

. ''Vauxia'' fossils are found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, specifically in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

.Paleobiology Database
/ref>

References

External links

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Verongimorpha Prehistoric sponge genera Paleozoic sponges Paleozoic life of British Columbia Burgess Shale sponges Maotianshan shales fossils Cambrian first appearances Silurian extinctions Taxa named by Charles Doolittle Walcott Fossil taxa described in 1920 Fossils of Canada Fossils of Greenland Fossils of the United States {{paleo-sponge-stub Cambrian genus extinctions