The specimen was found in the Sneeuberg mountains near New Lootsberg Pass in the Karoo Basin of South Africa.

Progalesaurus was first described in 2004 by Christian A. Sidor and Roger M. H. Smith in their paper titled, “A New Galesaurid (Therapsida: Cynodontia) From the Lower Triassic of South Africa.” Although no other specimen of Progalesaurus has been found as of yet, Sidor and Smith's findings have been included in many papers on the Permian-Triassic extinction event, cynodont diversity, and the paleoenvironment of South Africa.

[2][3] Progalesaurus was a relatively small mammal-like creature, with the skull of its holotype measuring 9.35 cm in length.

[1] The maxilla forms a good portion of the side of the face and is dotted with small foramina, mostly above the canines.

[1] Dvinia Procynosuchus Cynosaurus Galesaurus Progalesaurus Thrinaxodon Platycraniellus Cynognathia Probainognathia Early cynodonts like Progalesaurus likely had large litters, as more derived cynodonts like Tritylodontid have been found with litters far larger than modern mammals.

Early cynodonts have also been preserved with juveniles, suggesting they provided parental care to their young after birth or hatching.

Burrowing probably helped Triassic cynodonts to avoid harsh above-ground conditions shortly after the Permian-Triassic extinction event.

One coprolite of a 240 million year old cynodont even preserved parasitic nematode eggs, the earliest evidence of pinworms ever found.

[11] Progalesaurus lived very soon after the devastating Permian-Triassic extinction event in what is modern South Africa.

[2] The early Triassic period was one of the hottest in the history of the Earth, however the climate in the areas cynodonts have been discovered was more temperate.

[3] In the Karoo Basin, where Progalesaurus was discovered, there is evidence to suggest the area was a moderately damp open woodland.

A few examples of (vertebrate) survivor fauna, creatures that crossed the extinction boundary, include Lystrosaurus, Tetracynodon, Moschorhinus, and Ictidosuchoides.

Recovery fauna include small amphibians such as Micropholis, Galesaurids, some procolophonoids, and some archosauromorphs such as Proterosuchus.