Tarjadia
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Tarjadia Temporal range: Middle Triassic, Anisian–Ladinian |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | †Doswelliidae |
| Genus: |
†Tarjadia Arcucci et al., 1998 |
| Species | |
Tarjadia is an extinct genus of Triassic archosauriform. It is known from a single species, T. ruthae, first described in 1998 from the Middle Triassic Los Chañares Formation in Argentina. Partial remains have been found from deposits that are Anisian-Ladinian in age. The genus is known mostly from osteoderms, as well as several vertebrae and fragments of the skull. Tarjadia predates the Late Triassic aetosaurs and phytosaurs, two early groups of crurotarsans with heavy plating, making it one of the first heavily armored archosaurs. However, its classification within Archosauria is uncertain, as the known remains are fragmentary.
The genus name Tarjadia is derived from Sierra de los Tarjados, the closest mountain range to the outcrops of the Los Chañares Formation where remains have been found. The type species T. ruthae was named in honor of Ruth Romer, wife of the American paleontologist Alfred Romer, who led a Harvard expedition to Los Chañares in 1964 and 1965. Ruth went with Alfred on the expedition and was the first woman to work in the locality.
The first remains of Tarjadia from the Los Chañares Formation were mentioned by Alfred Romer in 1971. He recognized two types of osteoderms from the formation, which he tentatively attributed to the rauisuchian Luperosuchus because of their large size and similar appearance to scutes of other rauisuchians. In 1990, more complete osteoderms were found from the formation, as well as associated vertebrae. Three years later, in Romer's collections at Harvard University, remains of a skull were found in association with an osteoderm that was similar to the ones described in 1971 and 1990. This allowed Tarjadia to be erected as a new genus, distinct from Luperosuchus.
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