Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2016
Permian corals of Bolivia are confined to the Lower Permian (Wolfcampian, Leonardian) Copacabana Limestone. The coral fauna of the formation in the Lake Titicaca to the central altiplano areas of the Department of La Paz consists of two solitary rugose coral species, two colonial rugose coral species (one each of fasciculate and cerioid), and two tabulate coral species. New taxa are Stylastraea branisai n. sp., Durhamina pandolfi n. sp., Michelinia escobari n. sp., and Cladochonus carrascoi n. sp. Lophophyllidium striatum (d'Orbigny, 1839), based on Bolivian specimens, is redescribed, a lectotype designated, and the range extended to North America. Although the fauna is small, its taxonomic composition shows clear affinity with faunas of similar age northward through South and Central America to Mexico and the USA Texas-Oklahoma-Midcontinent region. The Bolivian fauna thus is confirmed as belonging to the Cyathaxonid Coral Province, which is restricted to the above areas. A species of Durhamina previously erected for Guatemalan specimens occurs in the Copacabana Limestone of Peru and strengthens the province assignment of the formation.