Rukwasuchus is only known from comparably limited material consisting of the
skull table, orbital region and
braincase but lacking most of the rostrum, dermatocranial material and preserving no
postcrania. The skull of
Rukwasuchus has been described as taller and narrower than that of
Stolokrosuchus, an animal from the Cretaceous of Niger with an extremely elongated snout, and has further been noted as most closely resembling that of
Hamadasuchus. and the wider posterior section located on the skull table. There the frontal forms part of the
supratemporal fossae, raised suture laterally. The squamosal then form the posterior corner of the skull table, the dorsal surface divided into an anterior, posterior and medial process. The anterior process is the part of the squamosal that comes into contact with the postorbital along the dorsally medially, then anterolateral suture, however in truth the squamosal extends much further, underlying the postorbital and even reaching as far as the postorbital bar. Finally, the medial process is the smallest of the three and comes into contact with the parietal. The squamosal also forms a portion of the posterior wall of the supratemporal fossa. The parietal forms the posterior and central parts of the skull table, with the anterior and posterior ends wider than the narrow section sandwiched between the fenestrae. The
supraoccipital is exclusively visible in posterior view as it is fully overlain by the parietal on the skull table, which furthermore forms a ventral deflection that gives this bone a pronounced U-shape. that are interprited as the exits for a number of nerves and the internal carotid artery. The basioccipital lies just below the otoccipitals as a subtriangular plate that when complete would form part of the occipital condyle and contributes to the basal tubera, both of which the otoccipitals also contribute to. The surface of the basioccipital is generally smooth but divided by a vertical crest and the outer edges form rugose tubera that overhang the parabasisphenoid ventrally and ventrolaterally. Aside from these tubera however the basioccipital underlies the parabasiphenoid, which sandwiches both the larger opening of the median
Eustachian formane and the smaller slit-like lateral Eustachian foramina between the two bones. which ends in a moderately broad
olfactory bulb. However the olfactory bulb differs in being very well developed and also more downturned compared to other crocodyliforms. while other crocodylomorphs the olfactory bulbs tend to be undivided. Another distinct feature of the endocast of
Rukwasuchus noted in the 2014 description is a prominent indentation just behind the cerebrum The CT scans also shows the main dorsal part of the large The endocast of
Rukwasuchus also bears a pair of protrusions referred to as the pericerebral spines, which are accompanied by lateral ridges and otherwise only known in
Zulmasuchus and
Campinasuchus among notosuchians. The underside of the endocast features a prominent
hypophyseal fossa and a pair of
cavernous dural venous sinuses, the latter of which are located behind the hemispheres of the cerebrum, the
postpituitary notch and the well developed ventral longitudinal dural venous sinus on the hindbrain. The longitudinal sinus on top of the endocast is connected to the ventral cavernous sinus via the
sphenoparietal dural venous sinus, which passes transversely just behind the cerebrum. Some regions, though not fully preserved, can be inferred in their location. For instance the prominent
flocculus was likely located just before where the
opistotics projects into the skull cavity, pinching the endocast, as is the common placement. Passing through the anterior edge of the flocculus was most likely the transverse dural venous sinus. The pituitary gland is described as rather small and the pituitary fossa, like in the not especially closely related baurusuchids, is directed almost ventrally.
Size Nicholl and colleagues describe
Rukwasuchus as being a medium-to large-bodied animal. ==Phylogeny==