Zhuravleva IT. (1970). Porifera, Sphinctozoa, Archaeocyathi - their connections. In: Fry WG (ed) The Biology of the Porifera. Zoological Society of London, Academic Press London, pp 41-59.
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Zhuravleva IT
1970
Porifera, Sphinctozoa, Archaeocyathi - their connections
In: Fry WG (ed) The Biology of the Porifera. Zoological Society of London, Academic Press London, pp 41-59
Publication
Proceedings of the 1st International Sponge Conference
Study of the fossil remains of Sphinctozoa and Archaeocyathi can contribute a great deal to our knowledge of the earliest stages of the evolution of multicellular animals. Initially regarded as variants of other groups of multicellular animals such as sponges, protozoa and coelenterates, the Sphinctozoa now appear to be most satisfactorily included within a group containing the calcareous sponges, while the Archaeocyathi Vologdin, 1937 are best regarded as a distinct group, more different from Porifera than from Protozoa, and sufficiently distinct to be placed in a taxon - the Archaeozoa - of equal rank with the Parazoa and Enterozoa. The Archaeozoa could well include a number of other poorly-
known and enigmatic extinct multicellular animals.