Three distinctive cranial patterns are recognized in phytosaurs.
Modern crocodilians exhibit a similar range in cranial diversity.
Phytosaur skull patterns are linked to characteristics of the dentition. The teeth in dolichorostral species are homodont. The other two types exhibit primarily heterodont dentition, but tooth differentiation tends to be more extreme in the brachyrostral type. Dolichorostral phytosaurs, such as Rutiodon carolinensis , were probably piscivorous. The long, narrow snout is designed to capture fast moving prey.