Tarjadia
Name: Tarjadia
(Tarjados - after the Sierra de los Tarjados, a mountain range
near where the holotype was discovered).
Phonetic: Tar-ya-de-ah.
Named By: A. Arcucci & C. A.
Mariscano - 1998.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Archosauriformes, Doswelliidae.
Species: T. ruthae (type).
Diet: Carnivore?
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Argentina, La Rioja Province -
Chanares Formation.
Time period: Ladinian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of armour,
post cranial skeleton and skull.
Most
study about Tarjadia so far has been concerning the
osteoderms
(sometimes called scutes), pieces of bone that resided within the
skin. The osteoderms of Tarjadia are very
distinctive in that they
have heavy pitting on their surface. These osteoderms likely afforded
Tarjadia a fair amount of protection from other
predators of the time
such as rauisuchians and other kinds of archosaurs, perhaps even the
ancestors of the dinosaurs.
Identified
as a doswelliid, Tarjadia was related to Doswellia
and Archeopelta.
Like these, Tarjadia is thought to have possibly
been predators of
smaller animals.
Further reading
- A distinctive new archosaur from the Middle Triassic (Los
Chanares Formation) of Argentina, A. Arcucci & C. A.
Mariscano - 1998.
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