Data from: The early record of halysitid tabulate corals, and morphometrics of Catenipora from the Ordovician of north-central China

Catenipora is one of the most common tabulate coral genera in the Upper
Ordovician Jinghe and Beiguoshan formations on the southern margin of the
Ordos Basin, north-central China. We distinguish and identify the species
of Catenipora using multivariate morphometric procedures. Cluster analysis
based on morphological characters of coralla yields a dendrogram showing
five morphospecies. The validity and distinctiveness of the morphospecies
are evaluated by discriminant analysis and non-metric multidimensional
scaling. To identify the species represented by the morphospecies, type
specimens of species that are morphologically similar from north-central
China (Sino-Korean Block) and surrounding palaeocontinents are compared
with the morphospecies by non-metric multidimensional scaling and
descriptive statistics. The result indicates that one morphospecies
represents C. daliangensis (Yu), another represents C. subovata Yu, and
the others are considered to be new species named C. tongchuanensis, C.
jingyangensis and C. tiewadianensis. Catenipora tongchuanensis from the
middle of the Jinghe Formation (Sandbian; early Late Ordovician) is the
earliest confirmed halysitid tabulate. Species of Catenipora in
north-central China (Sino-Korean Block) show the highest morphological
diversity (i.e. disparity) in terms of corallite size and shape, compared
with other palaeocontinents in China. Species of Catenipora in North
Qilian share more common components with those from north-central China
than any other palaeocontinent in China. The different morphological
characteristics in terms of corallite shape and ranks in some Katian
species of Catenipora from East Junggar, Mongolia, South China and Estonia
suggest that some species may have originated separately during the Great
Ordovician Biodiversification Event, and Catenipora is possibly
polyphyletic.