The biogeographic affinities of East Asian corals

Abstract

Abstract In East Asia the oldest tabulate and rugose corals appeared in the Early and Middle Ordovician. All rugose corals and most tabulate corals appear to have become extinct at the end of the Permian. The Ordovician corals of North China were most closely related to the Americo-Siberian region, but those of South China occupied an independent province. The Silurian corals of Junggar, Hinggan, Mongolia, Altai and Tuva are genera characteristic of the Uralian-Cordilleran region. The South China fauna had a close affinity to that of the East Australia in the Early Silurian, but was more akin to that of the Urals and Central Asia in the Middle and Late Silurian. During the Early and Middle Devonian, there were 5 biogeographic provinces in East Asia, all belonging to the Old World Realm: (1) Arctic province; (2) Junggar-Hinggan province; (3) Uralo-Tian Shan province; (4) Palaeotethyan province and (5) South Chin province. In East Asia, two distinctive zoogeographic provinces are fairly clearly defined: a southern province, with occurrence of Kueichouphyllum and a northern province with occurrences of Gangamophyllum during the Early Carboniferous. In addition, during the Early Permian, a Uralo-Arctic province was dominated by Durhaminidae and a Tethyan province by Waagenophyllidae.