Individuals of "Desmatosuchus" were heavily armored. The carapace was made up of two rows of median scutes surrounded by two more rows of lateral scutes. The lateral scutes had well-developed spine-like processes which pointed out laterally and dorso-posteriorly. There were typically five rows of spines, increasing in size anteriorly. The front spine was much larger, around 28 centimeters long, and was recurved. The fourth spine varies in length in each specimen, but remains shorter than the fifth in all of them. "Desmatosuchus" are the only aetosaurs known to have possessed spines like these.