In the phylogenetic analysis of Carvalho et al, the family contained Chimaerasuchus and Simosuchus, two genera of small (~1 metre long), possibly herbivorous crocodyliforms from the Cretaceous.

It was the sister taxon of Notosuchimorpha, another newly erected clade that contained notosuchians, sebecosuchians, and peirosaurids.

Below is a modified cladogram from Carvalho et al (2004): Chimaerasuchus Simosuchus Stolokrosuchus Uruguaysuchidae Comahuesuchus Ziphosuchia Candidodontidae Araripesuchus Malawisuchus Itasuchus Peirosauridae The Carvalho et al. (2004) paper phylogeny did not include neosuchians in the analysis.

When neosuchians are included in analyses with Simosuchus and Chimaerasuchus, the two genera do not appear as sister taxa (Pol 2003; Candeiro & Martinelli 2006).

In a recent contribution, Marinho & Carvalho (2007) did a revision of Sphagesauridae and noticed that Chimaerasuchus does not have any of the synapomorphies of this family that was originally erected by Kuhn (1968).