The taxonomic status of the geyerophyllid corals

Abstract

The geyerophyllid rugose corals comprise several genera broadly distributed during the Middle .and Upper Carboniferous. Their specific and generic variability is so great that some authors have recently considered most of the geyerophyllids as synonyms of the genera Geyerophyllum or Kionophyllum. The, present paper analyses the relationships between the solitary geyerphyllid genera in order to prove whether they constitute a simple genus or a. true family. In the author's opinion, fully justified is their family status, viz. the Geyerophyllidae MlNATO,1955.