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Resumen:
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A revision of the state of knowledge of the solitary axophyllids that have been grouped in the subfamily Axophyllinae (family Axophyllidae) and the description of the specimens collected in Sierra Morena (south-western Spain) is accomplished. This group of rugose corals has been reported frequently in the Carboniferous from Australia to North America and from China to Western Europe. However, some of the supposed records belong to other coral families that show some features in common, such as Geyerophyllidae and Aulophyllidae. After a detailed revision of the bibliographic references and some of the types, the genera included in this subfamily are: Axophyllum, Gangamophyllum, Pareynia, Semenophyllum, Protocarcinophyllum and the new genus Morenaphyllum. The genus Axoclisia remains as a doubtful member of the family. Axophyllinae are common in south-western Spain. They have been recorded and cited from the Guadiato Area and Los Santos de Maimona Basin comprising upper Viséan (Asbian, Brigantian) and Serpukhovian rocks, but most of those records remain undescribed. The record of Axophyllinae in Sierra Morena comprises ten species belonging to Axophyllum (four of them are new; A. cozari, A. julianaense, A. spinosum, A. spiralum), two species belonging to Gangamophyllum, one belonging to Pareynia (a new one, P. viacrucense) and two belonging to the new genus Morenaphyllum (M. antolinense, M. boyerense). The stratigraphic record of the Axophyllinae in Sierra Morena fi ts well with the distribution of the same species in other regions (mainly Western Europe and North Africa), with a few exceptions. A.mendipense occurs later than in Britain and Belgium and A. tazoultense and A.pseudokirsopianum occur earlier than in North Africa. A tentative phylogeny is proposed. The genus Axophyllum is the ancestor of all other genera of the subfamily and at least five evolutionary lineages can be traced in that genus, from the ancestor (Axophyllum simplex) to the youngest record, A. moroccoense. The Axophyllinae should be considered as biogeographic markers of the Palaeotethys, because all citations of taxa beyond that ocean are erroneous. Their stratigraphic range is from lower Viséan to Bashkirian, having an acme in the upper Viséan, both in abundance and diversity. Their occurrences in the Bashkirian are local records in some refuges before their extinction.
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