"Dinocephalosaurus" is considered to be a member of the Protorosauria, a group of ubiquitous and diverse Permo-Triassic reptiles. This assignment is based upon characteristics including the low and narrow skull with a short and narrow postorbital region; the long nasal relative to the frontal; the reduced backward projection of the jugal; the presence of more than seven cervical vertebrae, with centra longer than those of the dorsal vertebrae; the low neural spines of the cervical vertebrae; the long cervical ribs; the lack of articulating with the dorsal centra; and the absence of an entepicondylar foramen on the humerus. These characteristics are shared with "Tanystropheus", "Macrocnemus", and other protorosaurs.