[6] In 1998, reanalysis of the type material found it to be undiagnostic, resulting in a neotype being designated and subsequently described as a new genus, Contectopalatus.

[9] Additional specimens of Phalarodon atavus have been found in Middle Triassic Luoping Biota of Yunnan, China.

Many specimens consist only of cranial material, meaning that many of the autapomorphies of Phalarodon are based on the morphology of the skull and jaw.

These include the parietal forming a significant portion of the sagittal crest, the absence of a dental groove in the maxilla, and a nasal region with a pronounced narial shelf.

[10] In 2000, Maisch and Matzke noted that Contectopalatus (now P. atavus) was a large mixosaurid, calculating a skull length of 40 centimetres (1 ft 4 in).

This conclusion aligns with the unique teeth observed in the species, implying that Phalarodon atavus, and other mixosaurids, were highly specialized for particularly dietary niches.