Platysmilia

Toula, 1889 (ex de Fromentel, 1873, p. 418)

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 to 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. In applying Platysmilia to a taxon and attributing it to de Fromentel in the associated description, the name Platysmilia Toula, 1889, became available [ICZN article 11.5]. 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. Attempts to track down the type material between 2009 and 2013 in the collections of the Natural History Museum Vienna, which holds parts of the Toula-collections, were unsuccessful. 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 17-Jun-2014 21:48.

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