Pseudoendophyllum Onoprienko, 1979b

Denayer, Julien, 2016, Rugose corals across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary in NW Turkey, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (1), pp. 51-70 : 60

Genus Pseudoendophyllum Onoprienko, 1979b

Type species: Endophyllum nalivkini Gorsky, 1935 ; uppermost Famennian of Novaya Zemlya , Russia .

Diagnosis.—See Berkowski (2002).

Remarks.— Onoprienko (1979b) created Pseudoendophyllum for the corals attributed to Endophyllum Torley, 1933 by Gorsky (1935, 1938) in the uppermost Famennian of Novaya Zemlya. As noticed by Berkowski (2002), Gorsky 1935) described his corals as Endophyllum because he could not highlight any difference with the Devonian genus. Nevertheless, no Endophyllum is known between the Frasnian and the uppermost Famennian, so the uppermost Famennian Endophyllum are possibly homeomorphs of the Middle Devonian ones and should thus be considered as Elvis taxa ( Berkowski 2001). In Poland, Berkowski 2002) documented two species from the uppermost part of Middle Famennian ( Palmatolepis marginifera Zone ) to uppermost Famennian ( Siphonodella praesulcata Zone ). The origin of the genus should consequently be situated, at least in the Early Famennian. Onoprienko’s (1979b) choice to create Pseudoendophyllum is justified if the Middle and Upper Devonian forms have a different origin. Berkowski (2002) proposes two hypotheses for this origin: (i) Pseudoendophyllum evolved from Smithiphyllum by acquiring a cerioid habit; (ii) Pseudoendophyllum is a Tabulophyllum that became colonial (this second option is also favoured by Jell and Hill 1970 for the origin of the Middle Devonian Endophyllum ). Tabulophyllum being present in the Famennian (Poty 1984; Berkowski 2002), it might be at the origin of Pseudoendophyllum .