Scutosaurus

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Scutosaurus
Fossil range: Late Permian

Scutosaurus karpinskii from Russia

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Subclass:	Anapsida
Order:	Procolophonia
Family:	Pareiasauridae
Genus:	Scutosaurus

Scutosaurus ("Shield Reptile") was a genus of armor-covered pareiasaur, perhaps as much as 3.5 m long, which lived around 252-248 million years ago in Russia, in the later Permian period. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body. It was a large anapsid reptile that, unlike most reptiles, held its legs underneath its body to support its great weight.

As a plant-eater living in a semi-arid climate, Scutosaurus would have wandered widely in order find fresh foliage to eat. It may have stuck closely to the riverbanks and floodplains where plant life would have been more abundant, straying further afield only during times of drought. Its teeth were flattened and could grind away at the leaves and young branches before digesting them at length in its large gut. Given that it needed to eat constantly, Scutosaurus probably lived alone, or in very small herds, so as to avoid denuding large areas of their edible plants.

Scutosaurus skull.

With its large cheekbones, Scutosaurus may have been able to make a loud bellowing sound. It had excellent hearing and could have heard other animals bellowing from some distance away. These noises could have been used for mating or as warning signals.

Despite its relatively small size, Scutosaurus was heavy, and its short legs meant that it could not move at speed for long periods of time, which made it vulnerable to attack by large predators. To defend itself Scutosaurus had a thick skeleton covered with powerful muscles, especially in the neck region. Underneath the skin were rows of hard, bony plates (scutes) that acted like a form of chain mail. These would have made Scutosaurus a difficult target to hunt, but two or three Gorgonops hunting together could conceivably have exhausted and brought down an adult.

[edit] In Popular Culture

Scutosaurus, as seen in BBC's Walking with Monsters

Scutosaurus was shown in the Walking with Monsters series as being a social animal that migrated in groups. Scutosaurus was depicted as being the main prey of a large gorgonopsid, later erroneously identified in the books as Gorgonops. It was highly unlikely that Gorgonops preyed on these beasts, as it was indigenous to the region in Gondwana that is now South Africa. Scutosaurus was indigenous to the region in Laurasia that is now Siberia. However, the Russian gorgonopsid Inostrancevia may have preyed on Scutosaurus, instead.