[2] Their use of Platynota made it essentially equivalent to Varanoidea, a taxon that included monitor lizards and helodermatids and had been in use for many years.

McDowell and Bogert's usage of Platynota gained favor in the following decades, although it was substituted by the name Varanoidea in some studies.

A node-based definition was first given in 1998 in which Platynota included the last common ancestor of Monstersauria (helodermatids) and Varanidae (monitor lizards) and all of its descendants.

[4] Similarly, a 2005 study found a close relationship between Anniella pulchra (the California legless lizard) and helodermatids.

[5] A cladistic study synthesizing molecular and morphological data for squamates reinforced the placement of Helodermatidae as closer to Xenosauridae.

They include forms that are similar in appearance to living monitor lizards, such as Paravaranus, Proplatynotia, Gobiderma, Cherminotus, Telmasaurus, and Saniwides.