Fossils of Tillocheles were first described in 1957, when eight specimens were collected from the late Albian-aged Tambo Formation in Currane, central Queensland, Australia.

[2] Tillocheles was a small invertebrate, with the carapace of T. shannonae measuring around 39 mm (1.5 in) long and making up about three-eighths of the total body length.

The left cheliped has a thicker carpus, a large compressed tooth on the pollex ("thumb" of the pincer), and a dactylus with a scalloped cutting edge.

[1] However, phylogenetic analysis done by Tshudy and Babcock (1997) found that this genus (along with several other genera then placed in Nephropidae) actually belongs in a separate family which they named Chilenophoberidae.

[3] Further study by Karasawa et al. (2013) found that Chilenophoberidae is a paraphyletic grouping, and the family was declared a junior synonym of Stenochiridae.