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Intraspecific variation in a new solitary rugose coral, Commutia exoleta, from the Lower Carboniferous of the Baoshan Block, Southwest China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Xiang-Dong Wang ,
Sugiyama Tetsuo  and
Feng Zhang
Xiang-Dong Wang
Affiliation:
1Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China,
Sugiyama Tetsuo
Affiliation:
2Department of Earth System Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan,
Feng Zhang
Affiliation:
1Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China,
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Abstract

Based on 137 specimens examined, the new species Commutia exoleta is characterized by a small, slightly scolecoid shape with 21 septa at a mean maximum corallite diameter of 6 mm (range 3 to 10.5 mm); a persistent inner wall, which encloses an aulos with a mean maximum diameter of 1.2 mm, formed during an early ontogenetic stage when the axial ends of the cardinal, alar and counter-lateral septa fused; short counter septa are lacking in the earliest stage of development.

Corallites are highly variable. Characters exhibiting a wide range of variation are: size and shape of corallites, number of septa, diameter of aulos and the timing of its appearance, number of septa connected to the inner wall, and the septal arrangement in each growth quadrant. Combinations of these variable characters result in corallites that are each uniquely different. Variations of those characters are partly due to stressed environments, such as unstable, muddy substrates resulting in corallite rejuvenescence and redirection.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 77 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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