---
title: "Sponge · Animals and other organisms · Entities · Simulation Hypothesis"
url: https://simulation-hypothesis.com/entities/sponge
description: "An animal with no neurons or synapses that still contracts its whole body in a coordinated way."
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
credit: "Ross Allan Dahl, Simulation Hypothesis (simulation-hypothesis.com)"
---

[Entities](https://simulation-hypothesis.com/entities) › Animals and other organisms › No neurons

# Sponge

Porifera (e.g. Amphimedon queenslandica)

An animal with no neurons or synapses that still contracts its whole body in a coordinated way.

Neurons

0 measured  · no neurons or synapses 

Leys SP (2015) Elements of a 'nervous system' in sponges. J Exp Biol 218(4):581-591\. doi:10.1242/jeb.110817.

## Evidence

* Sponges have no neurons or synapses, but they coordinate whole-body contractions (for example, 'sneezing') with non-neuronal signalling.  
Leys SP (2015) Elements of a 'nervous system' in sponges. J Exp Biol 218(4):581-591\. doi:10.1242/jeb.110817.

Assess it against the published criteria