THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE SOLID COLUMN OF RUGOSE CORAL

The systematic position of the solid column of Rugosa has been a controversial i ssue for a long time. The solid column consists of fibrous tissue and clearly di ffers from the axial colum or protoaxial column. Its axial structure has no rela tionship with the cardinal septum or counter septum and inner ends of the septa. It is an independently developed axial structure in rugose coral. So, the Rugos a with solid column could constitute a new order Cyathaxoniida ord. nov. Ac cording to the unique fibrous tissue and the shape of solid column, this order c ould be further subdivided into three families: Cyathaxoniidae Edwards et Haime, 1850, Amygdalophyllidae Grabau, 1935 and Ekvasophyllidae Hill,1981. There are abundant solid column corals in Early Carboniferous of China. In this paper, three genera (including 1 new genus) and five species (including 4 new an d 1 uncertain species) are described. They were found from Datangian of Early Ca rboniferous in Qinghai and Yunnan provinces.

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Q915.813.3