Variodens was named in 1957 and was classified as a trilophosaur along with the genus
Tricuspisaurus, also newly described. In 1993, paleontologists
Hans-Dieter Sues and
Paul E. Olsen classified
Variodens, along with
Tricuspisaurus and
Trilophosaurus jacobsi, as a
procolophonid. This reassignment was based on the close similarity between the tricuspid teeth of these trilophosaurs and those of the newly named procolophonid
Xenodiphyodon. Sues and Olsen also proposed a new generic name for
T. jacobsi,
Chinleogomphius, given that it was no longer considered to be related to
Trilophosaurus. However, because
Variodens and
Tricuspisaurus are known primarily from teeth, it is difficult to determine their classification. The similarities between the teeth of
Variodens and those of procolophonids may be
convergent adaptations to a herbivorous diet, and do not necessarily indicate a close relationship. Whiteside & Duffin (2017) agreed with Robinson's original interpretation of
V. inopinatus as a trilophosaur, noting that tooth implantation of the specimen (fragment of a left
dentary) described by the authors is ankylothecodont, as described for
Trilophosaurus by Heckert
et al. (2006). ==References==