Scientists discovered a 480-million-year-old phosphatic sponge in South China, making it the oldest known stromatoporoid and extending its fossil record by 20 million years.International scientists have discovered the oldest known phosphatic stromatoporoid sponge in South China, dating back approximately 480 million years to the Early Ordovician period.Stromatoporoid sponges were major reef builders during the Paleozoic era, playing a foundational role in forming reef structures—much like modern corals do today. Their significance peaked from the late Middle Ordovician to the Devonian period, a time when reef ecosystems transitioned from being dominated by microbial communities to those built primarily by skeletal organisms.Until...