This specimen is a freshwater sponge of the genus Drulia Gray, 1867, part of the zoological collections of the Genoa University (museum voucher #7663), now at DISTAV.
It was collected in “Buenos Aires” (as reported in the card index of the zoological collction) by Albert Julius Otto Penzig, also referred to as Albertus Giulio Ottone Penzig (15 March 1856, Samitz, Silesia – 6 March 1929, Genoa), an important German mycologist who worked for a long time at the Genoa University.
The species has still to be determined and it has been previously published only as image in Pronzato, R., Pisera, A., & Manconi, R. (2017). Fossil freshwater sponges: taxonomy, geographic distribution, and critical review. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 62(3), 467-495.
Drulia and other South American freshwater sponges are typical of permanently or seasonally flooded marshlands (igapós) and river banks, especially in the Amazonian area.
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