The first published name of what is now called Scutosaurus karpinskii was in 1917 by British zoologist David Meredith Seares Watson, who captioned a reconstruction of its scapulocoracoid based on the poorly preserved specimen PIN 2005/1535 "Pariasaurus Karpinskyi, Amalitz" (giving credit to Amalitskii for the name). Amalitskii died later that year, and the actual diagnosis of the animal was posthumously published in 1922, with the name "Pareiosaurus" karpinskii, and the holotype specimen designated as the nearly complete skeleton PIN 2005/1532.
The first formal naming of what is now called Scutosaurus karpinskii was carried out by British zoologist David Meredith Seares Watson in 1917, who created a reconstruction of its scapulocoracoid from a fragmentary specimen PIN 2005/1535 "Pariasaurus Karpinskyi, Amalitz", acknowledging Amalitskii's role in the naming process.