It contains a single species, Suskityrannus hazelae, and the type specimen was found in the Turonian-age Moreno Hill Formation of the Zuni Basin in western New Mexico.

[6] The original fossils were found in 1998 by Robert Denton, a professional geologist from Virginia, and a native Mesa teen Sterling Nesbitt, who was a museum volunteer that came to a dig with paleontologist Doug Wolfe.

[2][10] Both the holotype specimen MSM P4754 (partially articulated skull and a few postcranial bones) and the paratype specimen MSM P6178 (partially articulated and associated remains including a few skull bones and an incomplete postcranial skeleton) are preserved in the collections of the Arizona Museum of Natural History, and they both show the phylogenetically earliest known arctometatarsalian foot in tyrannosauroids.

[2] Suskityrannus is a small tyrannosaur, with the skull of known specimens measuring 25–32 cm (9.8–12.6 in) long, which grew similarly to earlier tyrannosauroids like Guanlong.

[2] Suskityrannus filled the major phylogenetic, morphological and temporal gaps that researchers needed to piece together tyrannosauroid evolution.