It is a group of terrestrial hypercarnivorous crocodilians from South America (Argentina and Brazil) and possibly Pakistan.

Baurusuchidae has been, in accordance with the PhyloCode, officially defined as the least inclusive clade containing Cynodontosuchus rothi, Pissarrachampsa sera, and Baurusuchus pachecoi.

Remains of Baurusuchus have been found from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group of Brazil in deposits that are Turonian - Santonian in age.

[3] In addition to Baurusuchus, five other South American crocodyliforms have been assigned to Baurusuchidae: Campinasuchus, Cynodontosuchus, Pissarrachampsa, Stratiotosuchus, and Wargosuchus.

Cynodontosuchus was the first known baurusuchid, named in 1896 by English paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward, although it was only recently assigned to Baurusuchidae.

The family Baurusuchidae was named by Brazilian paleontologist Llewellyn Ivor Price in 1945 to include Baurusuchus.

[9] In 1946, American paleontologist Edwin Harris Colbert erected the group Sebecosuchia, which united Baurusuchidae with the family Sebecidae (represented by the genus Sebecus).

Below is a modified cladogram from Turner and Calvo (2005):[17] Neosuchia Libycosaurus Notosuchia Pehuenchesuchus Eremosuchus Sebecus Iberosuchus Bretesuchus Baurusuchus Pabwehshi Later studies noted many features that distinguished baurusuchids from sebecosuchids.

Below is a modified cladogram from Larsson and Sues (2007):[7] Notosuchus Malawisuchus Araripesuchus Baurusuchus Neosuchia Pabwehshi Sebecus Bretesuchus Peirosauridae More recent studies have nested Baurusuchus deep within Notosuchia, just as the larger group Sebecosuchia once was, while the remaining sebecosuchian genera have been placed more distantly in Metasuchia.

Montefeltro et al. (2011) found Baurusuchidae to be a monophyletic group with the genera Baurusuchus, Cynodontosuchus, Pissarrachampsa, Stratiotosuchus, and Wargosuchus.

Baurusuchia is formally defined as the most inclusive clade containing Baurusuchus pachecoi but not Sebecus icaeorhinus, Sphagesaurus huenei, Araripesuchus gomesi, Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, or Crocodylus niloticus.

[2] In contrast to the node-based Baurusuchidae, the stem-based Baurusuchia does not include a common ancestor and all its descendants, but rather all forms more closely related to a specific baurusuchid than a non-baurusuchid.

[22] Darlim et al. (2021) described a new baurusuchid, Aphaurosuchus, and proposed formal definitions for the clades Baurusuchia, Baurusuchidae, Baurusuchinae, and Pissarrachampsinae.

In addition to this, the study conducted a phylogenetic analysis to resolve the affinites of the new taxon and provide a reference phylogeny for the newly defined clades.