They are visually identifiable by a short skull with large nares, and broad, spatulate teeth filling a thick jaw.

[8] Oplosaurus, from the Early Cretaceous of the United Kingdom, has been suggested to be a camarasaurid,[9] but as it is only known from a tooth, its position within Eusauropoda is difficult to determine.

[13] In 1990, John S. McIntosh regarded Camarasauridae as made up of two subfamilies: Camarasaurinae, containing Camarasaurus, Aragosaurus, Euhelopus, and Tienshanosaurus, and Opisthocoelicaudiinae, containing Opisthocoelicaudia and Chondrosteosaurus.

[14] Dashanpusaurus, from the Middle Jurassic of China, was originally described as a camarasaurid,[15] but was subsequently found to be a basal macronarian by phylogenetic analysis.

[17][18] A reduction to two carpals, long metacarpals relative to the radius, and a twisted ischial shaft serve to identify the appendicular skeleton.