Prior to the formalization of the definitions of these groups by Jacques Gauthier in 1986, "Teleocrater" was variously considered as a rauisuchian, an ornithosuchian (Ornithosuchia being in fact synonymous with Avemetatarsalia), or a thecodont. The position of "Teleocrater" remained enigmatic due to the absence of additional remains and the lack of a phylogenetic analysis incorporating the taxon. A 2008 histological study of early archosauriforms by Armand de Ricqlès and colleagues tentatively identified "Teleocrater" as an archosauriform of uncertain phylogenetic placement, but possibly closely related to Eucrocopoda.