Tadzhikosuchus

Name: Tadzhikosuchus ‭(‬Tadzhikistan crocodile‭)‬.
Phonetic: Tad-see-ko-soo-kus.
Named By: Efimov‭ – ‬1982.
Synonyms: Tadzhikosuchus neutralis,‭ ‬Tadzhikosuchus kizylkumensis.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Crocodylomorpha,‭ ‬Eusuchia‭?
Species: T.‭ ‬macrodentis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Tajikistan‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yalovach Formation.‭ ‬Uzbekistan‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bissekty Formation.
Time period: Turonian to Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of at least three individuals.




       Tadzhikosuchus was a late Cretaceous era crocodile that lived in what would become Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.‭ ‬Three species were once named for the genus but a‭ ‬2000‭ ‬review resulted in the observation that no differences between the available fossils could differentiate three separate species.‭ ‬Therefore the species T.‭ ‬neutralis and T.‭ ‬kizylkumensis are now referred to the type species,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬macrodentis.
       There is also uncertainty about Tadzhikosuchus at the genus level.‭ ‬Another genus of crocodile from the same locations of Uzbekistan that Tadzhikosuchus is known from is Zhyrasuchus.‭ ‬Zhyrasuchus has been speculated to be a synonym of Tadzhikosuchus,‭ ‬but the limited fossil remains of Zhyrasuchus have so far made it impossible to prove this theory.‭ ‬The Tadzhikosuchus genus itself has also been considered to be a synonym of Diplocynodon,‭ ‬a crocodile that lived in Europe many millions of years later around the Eocene to Miocene periods.‭ ‬The only notable differences between Tadzhikosuchus and Diplocynodon are seen in the tooth shapes and socket positions,‭ ‬so it may be that the genus Tadzhikosuchus actually represents a species of Diplocynodon.‭
       If correct then it would indicate that the genus Diplocynodon survived the KT extinction that marks the end of many reptile groups such as the dinosaurs,‭ ‬pterosaurs and marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and mosasaurs.‭ ‬This is not actually that unusual as other genera of crocodiles are believed to have survived the KT extinction,‭ ‬with Brachychampsa and Dyrosaurus to name just two genera that did this.‭

Further reading
-‭ ‬A two-fanged crocodile from the Upper Cretaceous in Tadzhikistan - Efimov - 1982.
-‭ ‬Mesozoic crocodyliforms of north-central Eurasia.‭ ‬In M.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benton,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Shishkin,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Unwin,‭ ‬E.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Kurochkin‭ (‬eds.‭)‬,‭ ‬The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia‭ ‬402-419‭ ‬-‭ ‬G.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Storrs and M.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Efimov‭ ‬-‭ ‬2000.



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