On 9 September 2004, a lower jaw of a small theropod was uncovered by Anton Sergeevich Rezwiy near Itemir in the IT-01 quarry near Dzharakuduk.

The first part of the generic name Urbacodon is an acronym, honouring the Uzbek, Russian, British, American and Canadian scientists who participated in its discovery.

[1] The name was based on the holotype ZIN PH 944/16, a single left dentary with preserved replacement teeth from the Cenomanian Dzharakuduk Formation.

Urbacodon is distinguished from Byronosaurus by a less vascularized lateral dentary groove and more bulbous anterior tooth crowns, and from Mei by considerably larger size.

[1] Averianov and Sues viewed Urbacodon itemirensis as more plesiomorphic than Troodon and Saurornithoides in having a straight dentary with fewer teeth, but did not attempt to place it on a cladogram.