It includes three species: Shantungosuchus chuhsienensis and S. brachycephalus, which were both described by Yang Zhongjian – usually referred to as "Young" – in 1961 and 1982, and S. hangjinensis, which was described by Xiao-Chun Wu et al in 1994.

The second part, suchus is an Ancient Greek word referring to the Egyptian crocodile deity Sobek that is commonly used as a suffix for crocodylomorph genera and crocodile-like animals in general.

[2] Shantungosuchus belongs to Protosuchia, a group of early crocodilian relatives that were all rather small in size, about 1 meter in length, and terrestrial rather than aquatic.

[4][5][6] However, in Xiao-Chun Wu's 1994 description of S. hangjinensis, he noted the bones were more similar to the family Protosuchidae rather than Atoposauridae, and proposed to classify it as such.

For instance, S. hangjinensis likely shared its habitat with fish such as Sinamia, the turtle Ordosemys, and another species of crocodile-like reptile called Ikechosaurus, and several types of dinosaurs- though none have been identified to the level of genus.