The family is named after the Late Jurassic Shar Teeg Beds in southwestern Mongolia, from which most shartegosuchid remains have been found.

The shape and position of several bones of the skull, including the frontal, nasal, lacrimal, and quadrate, are also distinctive.

[5] In a 2004 phylogenetic study, Fruitachampsa, along with Gobiosuchus and Zosuchus, was found to be outside Mesoeucrocodylia, but still more derived than Protosuchidae, a family that is often thought to be closely related to shartegosuchids.

A phylogenetic analysis found the family to be monophyletic, meaning that it forms a true clade with a common ancestor from which only shartegosuchids are derived.

Below is a cladogram based on the 2006 study, showing the relationships of members of the family:[2] Metasuchia Hsisosuchus Nominosuchus matutinus Nominosuchus arcanus Kyasuchus Shartegosuchus Adzhosuchus Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic placement of Shartegosuchidae from Clark (2011):[1] Protosuchidae Gobiosuchus Zaraasuchus Zosuchus Sichuanosuchus Shantungosuchus Nominosuchus Fruitachampsa Shartegosuchus Adzhosuchus Hsisosuchus Mesoeucrocodylia The shartegosuchids from Mongolia and Russia comprise a group of crocodyliforms that was endemic to Central Asia during the Mesozoic.

These crocodyliforms, along with other Asiatic tetrapods, make up a fauna that may be unique to the region due to geographic isolation that existed since the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic.