Hortalotarsus was described by Harry Seeley in 1894 based on parts of a hind limb discovered in the Clarens Formation near Makhanda, South Africa.

Other authors considered Hortalotarsus skirtopodus as a valid species within the family Anchisauridae, though Michael Cooper synonymised it with Massospondylus carinatus in 1981.

Hortalotarsus skirtopodus was described by Harry Seeley in 1894 based on a specimen in the Albany Museum in Makhanda, South Africa.

This specimen was found by Mr. William Horner Wallace on 11 June 1888 in "Eagle's Crag", Barkly East;[1] the precise locality is unknown.

[2]: 173  The specimen comes from the Clarens Formation, which was deposited during a period of some 10 million years during the Pliensbachian and early Toarcian ages, ca.

A drawing of this block was made by Mr. D. Rudlin, a resident of Barkly East, showing parts of several bones sticking out of the rock, including eleven back vertebrae, ribs, probable shoulder blades, a possible humerus, ilia (upper bones of the pelvis), a tibia; a femur; and a metatarsus.

[5]: 293  Two of the surviving fragments of the hind leg were given to Seeley, who further prepared them, leading to the naming of Hortalotarsus skirtopodus in 1894.

[2]: 173  The name Hortalotarsus derives from the Greek words hortalis 'young fowl' and tarsos 'tarsus', and refers to the preservation of a navicular bone that has not yet fused with the astragalus, as is the case in embryonic birds.

[7] Seeley originally classified Hortalotarsus within the Euskelosauridae, and distinguished it from "Megalosaurian allies found in Europe" based on a notch in the articular surface of the tibia.