In 1847, Hermann von Meyer recognized the original 1833 and 1836 usages of Palaeosaurus and moved P. sternbergii to a new genus, Sphenosaurus.
Originally assigned the name Palaeosaurus sternbergii, by German paleontologist Leopold Joseph Fitzinger in 1840, the generic name was already preoccupied by not one but two other reptiles assigned the name Palaeosaurus.