The genus was first named in 1840 by Georg zu Münster, based on fossils collected from the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria, Germany.

Sculda was the first Mesozoic mantis shrimp to be discovered and named, being initially described by Georg zu Münster in 1840 to contain the type species S. pennata.

[1] Buria rugosa was described by C. G. Giebel in 1857 as a new genus and species of isopod, believing it to be distinct from Sculda pennata based on number of segments and head shape.

However, most of the conclusions were made based on illustrations from older literature, and Dames did not study the actual specimens of S. pennata, S. spinosa or S.

They noted that it was often difficult to distinguish whether a specimen belonged to S. pennata and S. spinosa due to incomplete preservation, thus several fossils were referred to ?Sculda pennata/spinosa to keep an open terminology.

[1][8] When it was first described, Sculda was believed to be a type of isopod, with Münster suggesting it to be a member of the family Cymothoidae based on its short, curved legs pressing against its body.

[6] The family belongs in the suborder Unipeltata, which contains all extant mantis shrimps as well as some extinct species from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras.

While Sculdidae was originally a monotypic family, with Sculda as its type and only genus, two more genera were assigned to it in the 21st century (namely Nodosculda and Spinosculda).

[12][13] Smith et al. (2023) conducted a phylogenetic analysis to determine the relations between fossil mantis shrimps, which recovered the genus Sculda to be monophyletic.

Archaeocaris vermiformis Archaeocaris graffhami †Bairdops elegans Perimecturus parki Perimecturus rapax †Bairdops beargulchensis †Daidal pattoni †Daidal schoellmanni †Daidal acanthocercus Gorgonophontes fraiponti Gorgonophontes peleron †Chabardella spinosa †Tyrannophontes theridion †Tyrannophontes gigantion †Triassosculda ahyongi †Tyrannosculda laurae †Pseudosculda laevis †Archaeosculda phoenicia †Sculda pennata †Sculda syriaca †Ursquilla yehoachi †Lysiosquilla nkporoensis †Nodosculda fisherorum Squilla mantis