Late Triassic scleractinian corals from Nayband Formation, southwest Ardestan, Central Iran

Late Triassic coral fauna from the Nayband Formation, southwest of Ardestan town (Central Iran), is represented by solitary, phaceloid and colonial (cerioid, meandroid, thamnasterioid, and plocoid) growth forms, attributed to 14 genera and 24 species. They occur in biostromal bioconstructions, in Bidestan and Howz-e-Khan Members of Nayband Formation. Sponges and corals are the main reef-building organisms in these biostromes, and occur together with hydrozoan Heterastridium spp., bivalves, and other reef dwellers (e.g., echinoderms, gastropods, and brachiopods). The corals of the studied area bear taxonomic resemblance to the Late Triassic corals from Northern Calcareous Alps and Pamirs, Central Asia.