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Sea Sponges

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These sea sponges were collected in the Adriatic Sea by zoologist Oscar Schmidt (1823‒1886). An advocate of Darwin’s theory of evolution, he worked at the Universalmuseum Joanneum between 1863 and 1872. From his base in Graz, he began to study Adriatic fauna and especially sponges, which had not been studied much at the time. To this day, his extensive collection of sea sponges is still regularly used for international research work! Currently, his collected material is being researched in the USA, Taiwan and France.

Close-ups of sea sponges

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Image Credits

Image Credits

Image Credits