The Colección Nacional del Phylum Porifera Gerardo Green

Abstract

The importance and current status of the Colección Nacional del Phylum Porifera Gerardo Green is presented. It houses the most primitive metazoans and is the largest and most diverse collection in the country, containing specimens from the coasts of all states with marine littorals and brackish water, as well as from some fresh water bodies. The scientific collections are a crucial tool for research; not only do they provide the biodiversity of past and present species, but they also allow us to redo the past of life on Earth. They also provide the environmental state in which those species developed, which allows us to compare them with current ones, and to protect those from which a benefit for man has been obtained.