中泥盆世吉维特晚期(更精确的说是在中吉维特期末)发生的生物更替事件使大量的头贝、全部的泡沫珊瑚亚目以及大多数的绳珊瑚科和内板珊瑚科惨遭灭绝。晚泥盆世弗拉期出现了许多新生分子,诸如Micto-phyllum,Wapitiphyllum,Pseudozaphrentis,Peneckiella等。根据珊瑚的不同组合特征可以鉴别出它们的地质时代。华南自上而下可划分出4个四射珊瑚组合,分别为上泥盆统弗拉阶(Frasnian):4)Disphyllum-Wapitiphyl-lum组合(牙形类gigas或rhenana带和hassi-jamieae带),3)Mictophyllum-Pseudozaphrentis组合(牙形类asymmetricus带);中泥盆统吉维特阶(Givetian):2)Endophyllum-Sunophyllum组合(牙形类varcus带的中部和下部之上段),1)Stringophyllum-Paramixogonaria组合(牙形类hemiansatus带-varcus带最下部)。
Devonian near-shore deposits are widespread in South China and rich in benthic corals. The Middle Devonian (Givetian) and Upper Devonian (Frasnian) rugose corals in South China flourished in a near-shore shallow water environment. Significant works on Devonian biostratigraphy and corals have been done in the sixties and the seventies of the previous century by Wang and Yu(1962), Wang etal. (1964, 1965, 1974, 1979), Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS (1974), Liao (1977), Liao et al. (1978, 1979), Hou (1978), Yang etal. (1979), Yu et al. (1979). Lately, Yang et al. (1981), Bai et al. (1982, 1994), Wang etal.(1982), Hou (1988), Hou etal. (1988), Zhong et al. (1992), Kuang (1992) ,Birenheide and Liao (1985), Liao (1990), Liao and Birenheide (1984, 1985, 1989), Liao and Ruan (1988, 2003),Maetal. (2002, 2005), Hou and Ma (2005) among others, studied the Devonian biostratigraphy and the coral assemblages of South China. Middle Devonian Givetian and Upper Devonian Frasnian deposits in South China mainly consist of carbonate and fine-grained terrigenous clastics, representing a near-shore environment with shallow and oxygenated water and relatively high water energy. A bio-event (Taghanic) occurred at the late Givetian (middle/upper varcus zone). All cystimorph corals and some Middle Devonian common genera of rugose corals (Calceola, Cystiphylloides, Mesophyllum, Endophyllum, Neospongophyllum, Sinospongophyllure, Sociophyllum, Stringophyllum, Sunophyllum) and typical Givetian brachiopod Stringocephalus disappeared below the Givetian-Frasnian boundary. However, in South China, there appeared to have some new corals ( Frechastraea, Hunanophrentis, Mictophyllure, Pseudozaphrentis, Peneckiella, Phillipsastraea, Sinodisphyllum, Smithiphyllum, Tabulophyllum, Wapitiphyllum) at the beginning of Frasnian though some surviving Middle Devonian rugose corals (Argutastraea, Disphyllum, Macgeea, Spinop