Originally assumed to be a eutriconodont, more recent studies have recovered it as a meridiolestidan dryolestoid.

Austrotriconodon fossils were found in the Argentinean Los Alamitos Formation, dating to the Campanian or Maastrichtian age.

The holotype of A. mckennai was later referred to by Bonaparte as "A. ferox" in the caption to an image figuring it.

However, a 2013 reinterpretation placed this taxon within Mesungulatidae, separate from A. mckennai, and considered the name "Austrotriconodon" sepulvadai an invalid combination.

The authors suggested possible synonymy with Mesungulatum houssayi but neither synonymised the two nor named a new genus.