The species was described on May 12, 2017, by biologists Juan C. Cusi, Jiří Moravec, Edgar Lehr and Václav Gvoždík in the scientific journal ZooKeys.

A total of six individuals were collected in Cordillera Azul National Park in 2013, and the holotype was found in Alto Biavo, at an altitude of 1 260 meters, on September 27, 2013, and it was a pregnant female.

It was diagnosed as a new species because it had a number of unique characteristics, such as being large in size, having eight pre-sacral vertebrae, with the sacrum fused to the coccyx, an elongated and pointed snout, and its coloration.

It was named Rhinella lilyrodriguezae in honor of herpetologist Lily Rodriguez, for her discoveries in the area of Peruvian amphibians and for promoting the creation of several natural parks in Peru, such as the one where the species was discovered.

[2] Currently, the only place where the species has been found is Cordillera Azul National Park, in the Alto Biavo district in northern Peru, with elevations between 1,245 and 1,280.

[2] It is a nocturnal and semi-arboreal species,[5] with all individuals found at night between 20:33 and 22:49 local time, on leaves of bushes that were between ten and one hundred centimeters high.