Specimen UWGM 7549, a partial left femur (proximal end) was referred to Ahvaytum since it was found within a 5 metres (16 ft) radius of the holotype and its anatomy is consistent with saurischians.

[3] Prior to the formal naming of Ahvaytum, the fossil material was noted in a 2020 conference abstracts, where it was initially interpreted as an early-diverging theropod closely related to the Neotheropoda.

The specific name, bahndooiveche (Shoshoni pronunciation: [pɑnduiβitʃi̥]), literally translates to "water's young man", and is the term used to refer to both dinosaurs and the colorful native salamanders.

[3] Ahvaytum notably represents the oldest dinosaur from the ancient landmass of Laurasia (comprising what is now North America, Europe, and Asia excluding the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian peninsula).

The authors noted that these results, displayed in the cladogram below, indicate a more inclusive grouping of saturnaliids than traditionally recognized:[3] Theropoda Panphagia Pampadromaeus Bagualosaurus Saturnalia Nhandumirim Chromogisaurus Ahvaytum Mbiresaurus Buriolestes Eoraptor Thecodontosaurus Plateosauria In 2024, Deckman, Lovelace, and Holland suggested that the Popo Agie Formation represents a common river environment, specifically a distributive fluvial system.