That dratted Dakotaraptor pack must have been either desperate with hunger or straight up galoots to try to take on Scutum. To their credit, they attacked him with all their ferocity and might, surrounding him on all sides, distracting him with loud cries and violent wing flapping, and leaping onto his back to dig in with their hooked claws and nip at his hide with their razor fangs. But Scutum fought back with terrible resolve. He bucked the pests off him. He tossed them aside or caused them to leap out of the way with each swing of his mighty head. He trampled one pack member into the ground until his feet were coated with blood and feathers. And he impaled the biggest one on his left brow horn, where it shuddered once and moved no more. The survivors then promptly fled, leaving Scutum with multiple, but superficial cuts.
That was almost two days ago now, and the ding-busted dead Dakotaraptor is still stuck on Scutum’s horn in spite of his repeated efforts to remove it. The weight bears down on him, the dangling limbs and wings obstruct his vision, the dry feathers irritate his skin, the insects buzz around him incessantly, and the stench of rotting flesh is becoming stronger and stronger. His fellow torosaurs have been keeping their distance and it’s only a matter of time before the smell attracts the most unwelcome of company.
Snorting furiously, Scutum swings his head once again only for one of the flopping clawed feet to poke him in the eye . . .
Torosaurus was one of the last, largest, and most spectacular ceratopsids. In terms of size, it rivalled its close relative Triceratops, plus it possessed a bigger skull. Indeed, one particular specimen, “Adam,” boasts a skull 3 metres long, the biggest of any known land animal. Quite a few Torosaurus fossils have been discovered in the western United States and Canada, although it appears to have been far less common than Triceratops was back in the day. And if you’ve been actively following paleontology news for the past 15 years, then you’re probably aware that at one time, it was argued that the perforated lizard and the three horned face were one and the same. And you’re also probably aware that that notion has pretty much been debunked by now, which I’ll touch on more later. Unlike Triceratops, there really hasn’t been a plethora of Torosaurus toys, although there have been some very nice ones from Tyco, Toyway, PNSO, and Creative Beast Studio.
Here is the 2025 Haolonggood Torosaurus, whom I have named Scutum. He is sculpted in a slow and steady walking pose with his tail swinging to the right, his left hind leg extended back, his head held out straight, and his mouth open. He is one of only two Haolonggood ceratopsians thus far to feature an open mouth, the other being Sinoceratops. From the tips of his brow horns to the end of his tail, he measures about 22 cm long and is nearly 10.5 cm tall at the top of his frill. And he weighs 307 g, which makes him the third biggest Haolonggood ceratopsian after the 373 g Pentaceratops and the 432 g Triceratops.
Two versions of this toy exist: “Wang Bo Dang” and “Shan Xiong Xin,” the latter of which is Scutum. His main colours are dark brown on top and salmon pink on bottom, with white for the underside of his tail and very dark brown and black for his feet and claws respectively. Dark stripes adorn his tail, thighs, and flanks. There’s also a faint streak of pinkish wash on top of his back, which I reckon he would have looked better without.
Scutum’s frill is decorated in fiery shades of red and orange with dark brown markings. It looks very striking and beautiful, and is a welcome change from the eye spots on so many other ceratopsians. Looks like a sunrise or a sunset. The rest of his skull is a mixture of pink, red, orange, and dark brown, with beige and medium brown horns, light orange eyes, pink nostrils, and a glossy pink mouth with off white teeth. And no visible paint flaws, happily.
The body on this toy is quite typical of a heavyweight ceratopsid. A big, beefy, very wide torso, a rather short tail, and stout, powerful legs. The feet terminate in the correct number and arrangement of digits and claws, not that I expected any different from Haolonggood. Small, rounded scales covered every square centimetre of Scutum, with plenty of wrinkles on the sides and the underbelly and on parts of the legs. There are also circular osteoderms scattered all over the back, which is again typical of ceratopsids.
Next we come to Scutum’s head, and what a wonderful head it is! The front part of it is covered in rounded scales of varying size and, of course, there is the familiar trio of horns, all of them pointy and smooth-textured like those of a bull. The lefthand brow horn is slightly longer and thinner than the righthand one, a pleasingly realistic touch. The large beak and the small jugal horns beneath Scutum’s alert eyes are covered in ridges. The inside of his mouth is painstakingly detailed, with rows of tiny teeth and visible nasal openings in the palate.
And last, but most certainly not least, there is Scutum’s enormous frill, the trademark characteristic of Torosaurus, the main feature that distinguishes it from Triceratops. Unlike the latter’s frill, which has a rounded shape, Scutum’s appears almost rectangular when viewed from the front. And between the curvature and the colouration, it does indeed bear a resemblance to a real scutum. It too is entirely scaly, with three pronounced rows of large scales running down the very centre and where the parietals meet the squamosals. The scales are also arranged in concentric oval patterns over the fenestrae. The rim of the frill appears smooth at first glance, but closer inspection shows that there are small but pronounced epiparietals.
As mentioned earlier, it was proposed back in 2010 that Torosaurus represented the mature form of Triceratops, but that hypothesis was never well-received in the paleontology community and several studies subsequently concluded that it was indeed a distinct species. Further hard evidence has more recently come in the form of subadult Torosaurus specimens in Colorado and in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Hurrah for that, I says, as Torosaurus happens to be my very favourite ceratopsian.:)
And now that I own Scutum here, I honestly don’t reckon I’ll be in need of another Torosaurus toy, at least not anytime soon. He is a terrific toy all around: big and imposing, superbly sculpted, attractively painted, and scientifically accurate. Oh, and considerably less expensive than the similar-sized PNSO version. Haolonggood has hit a home run yet again. Definitely recommended!
Tangling with Tyrannosaurus rex.
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