| “ | This is a one-tonne, Siberian Scutosaurus - a distant ancestor of turtles. Although he has no shell, his back is covered in hard, bony plates. | ” |
Scutosaurus as an armor-covered pareiasaur reptile, perhaps as much as 2.5–3 m long and weighed a ton, which lived around 252-248 MYA in Russia, in the late Permian period.
Facts
Scutosaurs mainly travelled in herds, not related to dinosaurs but instead were very distant ancestors of turtles.
"This is a one-tonne, Siberian Scutosaurus".(Walking with Monsters)
Although they had no shell, their backs were covered in hard, bony plates. Despite their size and armor, they were prey for Gorgonopsids. Once they tired from running from danger, they’re vulnerable. Like the massive sauropod dinosaurs, scutosaurs couldn't chew, but instead they probably had stones they pick up in their stomachs to help grind the vegetation so their digestive juices could get to work. Scutosaurs could smell water from several miles away. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body, making it one of the best-defended animals. It was a large reptile that, unlike most reptiles (but like the dinosaurs), held its legs underneath its body to support its great weight.
In the series
Walking with Monsters
The Old Male Scutosaurus.(Walking with Monsters)
A Dead Scutosaurus.(Walking with Monsters)
Clash of Titans
A old male Scutosaurus was seen alone in the Siberian desert until a Inostrancevia/gorgonopsid attacked and killed it. Later, a whole herd of Scutosaurus came and started feeding on plants near several Diictodon burrows and drinking from the local waterhole. After feeding on all that was available, the herd left the area for good.
Appearances in other programs
Primeval
Read more at the Anomaly Research Centre'Scutosaurus appeared in the first and last episodes of the first season of Primeval. One came into the Forest of Dean when an Anomaly to the Permian opened. The Home Office team managed to chase the Scutosaurus back into the Anomaly. When Nick Cutter traveled through the anomaly, he saw a herd of these reptiles in the distance.
Scutosaurus also appeared in the penultimate and final episodes of the second season. Oliver Leek put a Scutosaurus into his Creature Prison. When a Smilodon destroyed the controls, the Scutosaurus and all the other creatures escaped. Connor, Abby, Jenny and Caroline found the Scutosaurus in a corridor. Jenny stabbed the creature with her high heel which caused it to run. In the process it trampled on two guards. The Scutosaurus was killed when all the creatures turned on each other.