BIOGEOGRAPHIC AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES FOR AUSTRALIAN DEVONIAN RUGOSE CORALS

The highly diverse Early Devonian rugose corals characterized by the occurrences of Carlinastraea,Martinophyllum and Paradisphyllum of the late Lochkovian Pragian faunas and of Chalcidophyllum,Macgeea and Protomacgeea of the Emsian faunas are widely distributed in eastern Australia,and exhibit a high ratio of newly evolved generic taxa.Philipsastreids and endophyllids made their first appearance in the Pragian and became common in the Emsian.The earliest elements of the stringophyllids occur in the various rock units of Emsian age.While in the other provinces of the Old World Realm,these three families are recorded mainly from the Middle,or even Upper Devonian.This pattern of distribution suggests that many of the common genera belonging to these families originated in eastern Australia during the Early Devonian.Midddle Devonian rugosan faunas of eastern Australia are characterized by endemic Sanidophyllum and Blysmatophyllum. The Eifelian faunas seem to exhibit gradational changes from the earlier faunas.In contrast to a strong northwestwards dispersal from eastern Australia to south China and other provinces of the Old World Realm during the Early Devonian,the diverse Givetian faunas of Australia were less provincial,and exhibit a major influx of elements from south China,central Asia,Europe,northwestern Canada and other provinces of the Old World Realm.The Upper Devonian of eastern Australia is dominated by red beds and associated facies of non marine depositional setting with only rare records of rugose corals.Western Australian Frasnian faunas consist of both shelf and basin dwelling forms and show a low diversity and a strongly cosmopolitan nature.

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Q915.644 Q915.813.3