Platysmilia
de Fromentel, 1873, p. 418
Platysmilia de Fromentel, 1873, p. 418 is nomen dubium (unavailable).
Type Species
Platysmilia kozirogensis Toula, 1889, p. 83, pl. 6, fig. 2; Subsequent Designation Wells, 1986, p. 50.
Type Specimen: Holotype; ; Not Traced; Unknown
Type Locality: Aptian of Bulgaria (Kozirog).
Remarks
De Fromentel (1873, p. 418) only mentioned the name Platysmilia in a diagram that compares several genera of various groups (e.g., stylosmiliid, caryophyllid, amphiastreid, heterocoeniid). He did not provide any description or diagnosis of this taxon. According to this diagram, Platysmilia is supposed be closely related to Dendrosmilia but differs from it in having a (short-stylosmiliid) lamellar columella. However, because he combined genera in this diagram that have subsequently been placed in different families and even different suborders, its taxonomic position was not specified. The first species assigned to this genus was Platysmilia kozirogensis Toula (1889, p. 83), representing the first revision of Platysmilia. According to Toula, this form represents a stylosmiliid taxon, which is characterized by a: ramose colony around which there spiral plocoid corallites; corallites are circular in outline; columella which seems to be stylosmiliid in appearance but can also be in the shape of a lamellar segment ("blattformig"); corallite walls thick, consisting of synapticulae and costae, the latter of which connect the polyps with each other. However, the original description and illustration of Toula's material is insufficient in that it remains unclear how this taxon differs from genera like e.g. Stylosmilia, Cladophyllia, Pleurocora, and even Rhizangia. Therefore, Platysmilia is unrecognizable.
Distribution
- Eastern Europe; Early Cretaceous
This page has been in preparation since 03-Sep-2010 18:02
This version was contributed by Rosemarie Baron-Szabo on 03-Sep-2010 19:45.
Page authors are: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo. Please contact the editor if you would like to contribute to the diagnosis of this taxon.
The editor is: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo
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