John Christian

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Well preserved sponges are rare in Arizona except for Actinocoelia maeandrina in the Permian (Leonardian) age Kaibab Limestone. I found well preserved ramose sponges with hollow interiors about three miles south of the town of Forest Lakes in central Arizona. Using HCl acid, my silicified sponge was dissolved out of the Leonardian Fort Apache Member of the Schnebly (formerly Supai) Formation, which is mostly limestone in the area. The member contains a rich molluscan fauna dominated by pelecypods and gastropods. Echinoid pieces are common. Coral, bryozoan and nautiloids are rare; sponges are previously unreported. My sponge may be a new species or may be an extension of range of a known species.

For more information on the fossils of the Fort Apache Member see:

Winters, S.S., 1963, Supai Formation (Permian) of eastern Arizona: Geological Society of America Memoir, 89, 99 p.