Historical review of the Paleozoic stromatoporoid studies and problems in classification

Abstract

Studies of the Paleozoic stromatoporoids are briefly reviewed. The development of studies in this field can be divided into four stages from the pioneering to the present. Classification is one of the most important basic problems in the stromatoporoid works, because evaluation of skeletal structures varies among researchers. Although more than 1700 species have been described, this number may be reduced if intra- and inter-coenosteal variations are carefully examined. Future research should be directed towards establishsing a classification from the paleobiological point of view. At present, the assignment of the stromatoporoids to Porifera has been widely accepted, but the coelenterate affinity is supported by several workers. The evidence in various views is summarized.