This Fossil Friday, get to know Scutosaurus karpinskii! Also called the “shield lizard,” this animal lived about 253 million years ago during the Late Permian. Scutosaurus is one of the pareiasaurs, a group of early sauropsids that were probably related to the smaller procolophonids. The pareiasaurs had spikes and thickened knobs around the skull. Their teeth were simple pegs, presumably adapted for eating plants. Pareiasaur fossils have been found in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Spot this one in the Museum’s Hall of Vertebrate Origins. Photo: © AMNH
