Kyhytysuka was a mid-sized ophthalmosaurian with heterodont dentition and several adaptations suggesting that it was a macropredatory vertebrate hunter living in shallow waters.

This fossil, a three-dimensionally preserved skull discovered by local Jorge Cárdenas, was described as a new species of Platypterygius, P. sachicarum, by María Páramo-Fonseca in 1997.

Further research on ichthyosaurs since its discovery have rendered the original description inadequate and furthermore found the genus of Platypterygius as taxonomically problematic.

Further discoveries were made including postcranial material assigned to P. sachicarum and partial forelimbs considered to be Platypterygius sp.

In 2021 Cortés et al. published a redescription of the holotype skull, finding it to represent a distinct genus they named Kyhytysuka sachicarum.

The holotype, specimen DON-19671, is currently held at the Museo Geológico Nacional José Royo y Gómez, Colombian Geological Survey.

The name is composed of the verb "kyhyty" and the particle "suka", in combination meaning "the one that cuts with something sharp" in reference to the animal's unique dentition.

It contains a long tooth groove with space for 47 dentary teeth that ends approximately at the anterior boundary of the narial fossa.

[2] The left lower jaw of the Kyhytysuka holotype may even preserve connective tissue similar to a Stenopterygius quadriscissus specimen from Holzmaden.

They are conical with an oval to rounded cross section and the anterior and posterior most teeth are notably smaller than those in the middle of the jaws.

[2] Dental Zone I encompasses the first three premaxillary teeth, which are slender and closely packed, forming a terminal rosette at the beginning of the jaw.

Dental Zone V is the last of the five tooth regions, hosting tightly packed teeth with robust morphology and short crowns.

To stabilize ophthalmosaurian phylogeny, Cortés et al. propose node-stem-triplet approach, redefining Ophthalmosauria and the families part of it.

As part of this revision they reject Platypterygiinae as a name due to the problematic nature of the genus Platypterygus, instead coining Brachypterygiidae in its place, composing of all ophthalmosaurians closer to Brachypterygius than to Ophthalmosaurus.

[2] Athabascasaurus bitumineus Acamptonectes densus Ophthalmosaurus icenicus Baptanodon natans Gengasaurus nicosiai Palvennia hoybergeti Janusaurus lundi Muiscasaurus catheti Arthropterygius thalassonotus Arthropterygius chrisorum Cryopterygius kristiansenae Platypterygius platydactylus Leninia stellans Mollesaurus periallus Undorosaurus gorodischensis Acuetzpalin carranzai Aegirosaurus leptospondylus Sveltonectes insolitus Brachypterygius extremus "Platypterygius" americanus Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi Kyhytysuka sachicarum Caypullisaurus bonapartei "Platypterygius" australis "Platypterygius" hercynicus Kyhytysuka's large body size, robust skull, putative gular soft tissue and heterodont dentition all give important clues to the animal's ecology and feeding habits.

The medial-lateral cartilage in the holotype is reduced, suggesting tight joints and preventing the animal from moving its jaws in a lateral motion.

Based on the relatively small orbits and linear jaw line, the authors furthermore propose that the animal inhabited shallow waters.