Article: A Lower Cambrian coral from South Australia

A Lower Cambrian coral, Moorowipora chamberensis, occurs in the Botomian Moorowie Formation near Moorowie Mine in the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The coralla available for study are cerioid, with tripartite cerioid walls characterized by fibrous crystallites belonging to each corallite, separated by dark, fine-grained carbonate. The corallites were built by true individuals (polyps), as evidenced by their contraction to rounded form when clastic sediment was present within the corallum. Tabulae are present, formed as a basal thin, dark layer and upper fibrous layer perpendicular to the upper surface of the plate. The cerioid colonial form with typical coralline wall structure, the presence of short septal spines, the reaction of corallites to influxes of clastic sediment and the construction of the tabulae all indicate that this Lower Cambrian coral may be placed within the anthozoan Subclass Tabulata, albeit with a question mark. This would extend the range of the group considerably.