Willinakaqe was first named by Rubén D. Juárez Valieri, José A. Haro, Lucas E. Fiorelli and Jorge O. Calvo in
2010 and the
type species is
Willinakaqe salitralensis. The generic name means "Southern duck-mimic", in the
Mapuche language (
willi, "south",
iná, "mimic" and , "duck"). The
specific name refers to the Salitral.
Willinakaqe is known from several disarticulated specimens, among them juvenile and adult individuals found at the Salitral Moreno site of the Lower Member of the
Allen Formation. The
holotype is
MPCA-Pv SM 8, a right premaxilla. A second site in the
Malvinas Argentinas Partido has rendered additional specimens. Together the material represents the majority of the skeleton. ==Phylogeny==