The only recorded species, Ausktribosphenos nyktos, was found on Flat Rocks in the Wonthaggi Formation, Victoria.

[1] The holotype fossil of Ausktribosphenos was found in the Shore platform at Flat Rocks, Bunarong Marine Park, Victoria, Southeastern Australia, and described in 1997.

[1] The generic name Ausktribosphenos derives from the place name Australia, where the fossils were found; and the English word Tribosphenic, which further derives from the Greek words tribeo, to mean "rub"; and sphḗn, to mean "wedge", in reference to the shape of the teeth.

The specific name nyktos derives from the name of the Greek god Nyx, which further derives from the Greek word Núx, to mean "night", in reference to the fact that the polar region of the world Ausktribosphenos lived in would have prolonged nights, and 3 months of perpetual darkness.

[1] Due to all the distinct differences and similarities seen in the fossil material of Ausktribosphenos from other Cretaceous mammals, from the shape of the jaw itself down to the teeth, it was placed into the Mammalia class, but put into its own family, the Ausktribosphenidae.