Silurian amplexoid rugose coral generaPilophylliaGe and Yu, 1974 andNeopilophyllianew genus from South China

Abstract PilophylliaGe and Yu, 1974 represents a major group of distinctive amplexoid corals in the Silurian, whose taxonomic relationships, species composition, and evolutionary trends remain contentious. A critical revision of type material and new specimens of several species (and subspecies) assigned toPilophyllia, including the type speciesP. involutaGe and Yu, 1974, provides solutions to some of these problems.Pilophylliais revised to include only those forms characterized by a distinct peripheral stereozone and amplexoid major septa with club-shaped rhabdacanths set in thick lamellar stereomes. Other species, previously referred toPilophylliabut having generally short septa with wedge-shaped rhabdacanths, are transferred herein to the new genusNeopilophylliaWang. Both genera, together with other Silurian amplexoid rugosan genera such asAmplexoides, are referred to the new family Amplexoididae Wang, which is thought to be evolutionarily unrelated to the much younger (Devonian to early Carboniferous) amplexoid rugosan family Amplexidae Chapman, 1893. The first appearance ofNeopilophyllian. gen. in the middle Telychian, much later than that ofPilophylliain the late Rhuddanian, probably marks a significant stage during the evolution of Silurian amplexoid corals. UUID: http://zoobank.org/c22423b0-7af2-4be0-8ac2-7d47addde621