Revision of Lithostrotionella - USGS

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY 37
Type species.-Thysanophyllum orientale Nicholson and
Thomson, 1876, p. 150. Lower Carboniferous, Scotland.
Discussion.- Thysanophyllum is distinguished by its
cerioid corallum having corallites with a lonsdaleoid
dissepimentarium and lacking an axial structure or having
a weak impersistent axial plate. The genus is probably
polyphyletic like other colonial rugose corals
without a persistent axial structure, corals such as
Diphyphyllum and Pseudodorlodotia.
Thysanophyllum astraeiforme (W arran)
Diphyphyllum aJJtraeiformis Warren, 1927, p. 44, pl. 3; figs. 2, 3.
Lithostrotionella aJJtraeiformis (Warren). Kelly, 1942, p. 352; Bamber,
1961, p. 152, pl. 12, figs. 1a, b; Nelson, 1961, pl. 18, figs. 1-3.
Lithostrotionella (Thysarwphyllum) aJJtraeijormis (Warren). Nelson,
1960, p. 115, pl. 22, figs. 7-10.
Thysarwphyllum aJJtraeiforme (Warren). Bamber, 1966, p. 23, pl. 4,
figs. 3a-b, 4a-c; Armstrong, 1970a, p. 37, pl. 11, figs. 5-8; 1970b,
p. 28, pl. 9, figs. 1-6, text-fig. 33.
Desc.-'ription of lectotype.- See Bamber (1966).
Discussion.-This species is rather common in
western Canada and Alaska, where it ranges from
Mamet Zone 13 into 16i; it is most common in Mamet
Zones 14 and 15. These occurrences are of middle and
late Visean age. The structure of the columella, where
present, suggests relationship to Acrocyathus.
Genus LONSDALEIA McCoy, 1849
Lonsdaleia McCoy, 1849, p. 11; Smith, 1916, p. 218; Hill, 1940, p. 151;
Sando, 1975, p. C20.
Type species. -Erismatolithus Madreporites
(duplicatus) Martin, 1809, equals Lonsdaleia duplicata
(Martin). Lower Carboniferous, England.
Diagnosis.- See Cotton (1973, p. 117).
Discussion.-The genus is subdivided into two
subgenera on the basis of growth form: Lonsdaleia
(Lonsdaleia), phaceloid, and Lonsdaleia (Actinocyathus),
cerioid.
Subgenus ACTINOCYATHUS d'Orbigny, 1849
Actinocyathus d'Orbigny, 1849a, p. 12.
Stylidnphyllum de Fromentel, 1861, p. 316.
?Protolomdalia Lisitsyn, 1925, p. 68.
?Sublonsdalia Lisitsyn, 1925, p. 68.
?Protolomdaleia Lang, Smith, and Thomas, 1940, p. 106.
?Sublonsdaleia Lang, Smith, and Thomas, 1940, p. 128
Type. species. - Cyathophyllum crenulare Phillips,
1836, equals Erismatolithus Madreporites (jloriformis)
Martin, 1809, equals Lonsdaleia floriformis (Martin).
Lower Carboniferous, England.
Diagnosis.-Cerioid Lonsdaleia.
Discussion.-See Sando (1975, p. C20) for discussion
of the type species and synonymic placement of
Stylidophyllum. Protolonsdalia (nomen vanum Protolonsdaleia)
and Sublonsdalia (nomen vanum
Sublonsdaleia) are both inadequately founded on type
material that has been lost (N. P. Vasilyuk, oral commun.,
1975); they may be junior synonyms of Actinocyathu.s,
but neotypes need to be described before a
final decision can be made.
Lc•nsdaleia (Actinocyathus) berthiaumi (Merriam)
Plate 20, figures 3, 4
Lithostrotion(Lithostrotionella) berthiaumi Merriam, 1942, p. 378, pl.
56, figs. 9, 10; Bassler, 1950, p. 252.
Descript'ion of holotype.-See Merriam (1942).
Discussion. -Lonsdaleia (Actinocyathus) was
previously represented· in North America by a single
species, L. (A.) stelcki Nelson (1960, p. 119, pl. 23, figs.
6-10), as determined by Sando (1975, p. C21). Nelson's
species is restricted to the upper Visean and lower
Nammian (Mamet Zones 16s, 17, and 18). Examination
of the holotype (USNM 132988) and a topotype (USNM
132989) of Merriam's species reveals that it is very
similar to Nelson's species but differs in having fewer
tabulae. New thin sections of Merriam's holotype
(USNl\1 132988) are figured herein to provide a better
basis for interpreting this specimen.
Merriam (1942, p. 379) stated that the type material of
L. berthiaumi is from the Permian Coyote Butte Formation
of Oregon, a stratigraphic level that is inconsistent
with other North American occurrences of the genus to
which it is now assigned. According to E. C. Wilson
(written commun., 1979), exposures in the type area are
poor, geologic structure is complex, and beds in the area
range from Devonian to Permian. I conclude that the
specimens are probably from beds of Carboniferous (late
Visean or early Namurian) age.
lonscl.aleia (Actinocyathus) peratrovichensis (Armstrong)
Lithostrotionella peratrovichensis Armstrong, 1970a, p. 35, pl. 12,
figs. 8-11.
Description of holotype.- See Armstrong (1970a).
Discussion.- Examination of the holotype (USNM
160493) of L. peratrovichensis reveals a morphology
consistent with Lonsdaleia (Actinocyathus). The species
differs from the widely distributed L. (A.) stelcki
(Nelson) by its smaller corallite diameter, thicker corallite
walls, fewer dissepiments, and tabulae of varying
form, some of which are inclined upward toward the columella.
The presence of L. (A.) peratrovichensis in beds of late
Visean age: and the nature of its tabulae suggest that it
is ancestral to L. (A.) stelcki.
Family DURHAMINIDAE Minato and Kato, 1965
Genus KLEOPATRINA McCutcheon and Wilson, 1963
Ptolema'i..a McCutcheon and Wilson, 1961, p. 1020 (not Osborn, 1908,
p. 267).
Kleopatrina McCutcheon and Wilson, 1963, p. 299; Minato and Kato,
1965, p. 67 (replacement name for Ptolemaia McCutcheon and
Wilson).