[Illustration: FIG. 93.—Skull of _Mystriosuchus_, a phytosaur: _pm_, premaxilla; _m_, maxilla; _na_, nasal; _f_, frontal; _p_, prefrontal; _l_, lacrimal; _pf_, postfrontal; _po_, postorbital; _pa_, parietal; _sg_, squamosal; _qj_, quadratojugal; _pl_, palatine; _t_, transverse; _in_, internal nares; _en_, external nares; _pt_, pterygoid; _bs_, basisphenoid; _eo_, exoccipital. (After McGregor.)] [Illustration: FIG. 94.—Dorsal vertebrae of phytosaur: _az_, anterior zygapophysis; _pz_, posterior zygapophysis; _d_, _c_, articulations of rib.] [Illustration: FIG. 95.—Scapula and coracoid of _Rutiodon carolinensis_, an American phytosaur. (After McGregor.)] [Illustration: FIG. 96.—_Belodon_; restoration of head, from above.] [Illustration: FIG. 97.—_Mystriosuchus_: restoration of head, from above.] In _Belodon_ (Fig. 96), the earliest known and most typical genus, perhaps, the moderately elongated face has a high crest reaching nearly to its front end, and this type is known both from Europe and from New Mexico. Others have the face long and slender, even longer and more slender than in the ancient teleosaur crocodiles or the modern gavials. In some forms the teeth are cylindrical and slender throughout, and there may be as many as fifty on each jaw, or two hundred in all; while in others only the anterior teeth are cylindrical and the posterior teeth are flattened and serrate along their cutting edges. In the body not very great differences have been observed. Some are more slender than others, and there are minor differences in the shapes and sizes and numbers of the bony scutes along the back and on the throat. But they are all alike in their essential characters, a very long beak with numerous teeth; the foremost ones on the expanded, more or less spoon-shaped front extremity, are more or less, sometimes greatly, elongated. The jaws may be likened to a long and slender pair of tongs with nipping teeth at the front end. The strong, long, and flattened tail is sufficient evidence that the phytosaurs were excellent swimmers, but, aside from that and the posterior location of the external nostrils, directly over the internal, few other aquatic adaptations are observed in the skeleton. There are no sclerotic bony plates about the eyes, or at least none have so far been discovered, although among the numerous known specimens they would confidently be expected were they really present in the skeleton; and the presence of bony armor negatives markedly aquatic habits.