[1] Rastodon is derived from the Rio do Rasto Formation, where its remains were found, and the Greek word for "tooth".

The species name, R. procurvidens, means "curved forward tooth" and describes its uniquely shaped teeth.

It comes from Guadalupian deposits found at an outcrop of the Rio do Rasto Formation at the Boqueirão Farm, in the municipality of São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

It bore a beaked head with a single pair of tusks and a keratin-covered nasal boss.

[1] However, the phylogenetic position of Rastodon is contentious,[2] for it has also been recovered as the basalmost emydopoid dicynodont.