Arraes was a prominent local political figure during the 20th century and became instrumental in the development of paleontological studies in the area when she was appointed dean of the Universidade Regional do Cariri in 1997.

[2][3][4] Because the few remains used to describe the species were incomplete, anatomical characteristics used to differentiate Caririemys from other extinct and extant pleurodirans are derived mostly from the arrangement of the bony plates that form its domed carapace.

[1] The genus and species were first described in 2007, from the fragmentary remains of a single fossil specimen unearthed in north-eastern Brazil two years prior to the publication of the description.

Since most of the elements used to systematically classify a fossil turtle in the Pleurodira (such as the skull) were missing, the species’ affiliation was determined by the attachment of the specimen's pelvis to its carapace.

[1] Closer approximation and analysis of its carapace elements have shown that Caririemys is closely related to the turtle Euraxemys essweini from the same geographic locality and strata.