A new species of the primitive stromatoporoid Cystostroma from the Ordovician of East Asia

A new species of the most primitive rosenellid stromatoporoid Cystostroma, C. primordia sp. nov. is reported from the Hunghuayuan Formation (Lower Ordovician, Floian) of Guizhou Province in the South China Block and the Duwibong Formation (Middle Ordovician, Darriwilian) of the Taebaeksan Basin in mid-eastern Korea (North China Block). This species is the first representative of the genus found in both the North and South China blocks. Cystostroma primordia sp. nov. is characterized by the absence of denticles and distinctively smaller cyst plates (height 0.04–0.20 mm, length 0.09–0.39 mm) than any other known species of Cystostroma. The presence of C. primordia sp. nov. in Lower to Middle Ordovician strata of western Gondwana challenges the long-held view of the late Middle Ordovician emergence of Paleozoic stromatoporoids. The simple internal morphological features of this new species and its occurrence in the Lower Ordovician of South China strongly indicate that an Early Ordovician Cystostroma-type precursor from western Gondwana is located near the base of the stromatoporoid stock. This occurrence greatly preceded the late Middle Ordovician (late Darriwilian) stromatoporoid diversification in circum-equatorial regions worldwide.