It was found in the Lower Dockum Group near the abandoned settlement of Otis Chalk.

It was first named by Adrian P. Hunt and Spencer G. Lucas in 1991 and the type species is Otischalkia elderae.

[1] Originally described as a rhynchosaur, several recent studies found O. elderae to represent a nomen dubium.

[2][3][4] Nesbitt et al. (2021) came to the conclusion that the holotype of Otischalkia actually belongs to an azendohsaurid, specifically a malerisaurine.

This article about a Triassic reptile is a stub.