The holotype specimen, MPC-D 100/111, was found in layers from the Bayshin Tsav locality on the Bayan Shireh Formation, consisting of an exceptionally well preserved skull, a virtually complete right pes only lacking the proximal end of metatarsals II, III and IV, and an almost complete left humerus. Other remains include some fragmentary cervical vertebrae, however, the count is not specified and they were not illustrated. These findings were made during a Soviet-Mongolian expedition in the Ömnögovi Province in 1972. Eight years later, the genus and type species, "Erlikosaurus andrewsi", was named and described (although very briefly) by paleontologists Rinchen Barsbold and Altangerel Perle in 1980, however, Barsbold was not indicated as the name-giver of this particular species. The generic name, "Erlikosaurus", was taken from that of the demon king Erlik, from Turko-Mongolian mythology and the Greek σαῦρος (sauros, meaning lizard). The specific name, "andrewsi", is in honour to the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who was the leader of the American Asiatic Expeditions from 1922 to 1930. Apparently, in the original description a left pes was claimed to be part of the holotype, however, this statement has not been mentioned again.