Synonym: Helodermatoidea Baur 1890
Parent taxon: Platynota according to J. L. Conrad 2006
See also Antunes 1964, Baur 1890, Carroll 1988, Comaschi Caria 1957, de Lapparent de Broin et al. 2020, Estes 1964, Estes 1983, Estes et al. 1988, Gao and Fox 1996, Houssaye et al. 2013, Houssaye et al. 2013, Kuhn 1966, Lee and Caldwell 2000, McDowell and Bogert 1954, Norell et al. 2007, Páramo-Fonseca 2000, Peng et al. 2001, Seiffert 1975, Stritzke 1983 and Welles and Gregg 1971
Sister taxa: Cemeterius, Colpodontosaurus, Kaganaias, Litakis, Parasaniwa, Parviderma, Shinisauria, Shinisauridae
Subtaxa: Aiolosaurus Arcanosaurus Heloderma Helodermatidae Judeasaurus Lanthanotidae Ovoo Pachyvaranidae Saniwinae Varanidae
Type: Varanus
Ecology: carnivore
Distribution:
• Quaternary of Australia (21 collections), the Congo-Kinshasa (1), Eritrea (2), Greece (1), Guam (4), India (1), Indonesia (7), Kenya (3), New Caledonia (2), Niger (1), Northern Mariana Islands (2), the Philippines (2), South Africa (3), Sudan (7), Tanzania (1), Thailand (3), United States (3: Arizona, California, Nevada), Zambia (3)
• Pliocene to Pleistocene of Uganda (1)
• Pliocene of Australia (2), Greece (2), Hungary (2), Kenya (1), Pakistan (1), Spain (1), Turkey (2), Ukraine (1)
• Hemphillian of United States (1: Tennessee)
• Miocene to Pliocene of Chad (1), Uganda (1)
• Miocene of Afghanistan (1), Armenia (1), Austria (3), Chad (1), China (1), the Czech Republic (2), Egypt (1), France (8), Georgia (1), Germany (4), Greece (6), Hungary (1), India (3), Italy (3), Kazakhstan (2), Kenya (6), Moldova (2), Namibia (1), Pakistan (4), Portugal (2), Romania (1), the Russian Federation (1), Spain (10), Switzerland (1), Turkey (2), United States (1: Florida)
• Harrisonian of United States (1: Texas)
• Arikareean of United States (1: Florida)
• Oligocene of Australia (2), Egypt (2), France (3), United States (1: Nebraska)
• Eocene to Miocene of France (1)
• Eocene of Algeria (1), Belgium (1), Canada (1: Northwest Territories), China (1), Egypt (1), France (11), Kyrgyzstan (1), Mexico (1), Portugal (1), United States (52: California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming)
• Clarkforkian of United States (1: Wyoming)
• Paleocene of United States (3: Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming)
• Cretaceous of Canada (17: Alberta), China (1), France (6), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1), Mexico (2), Mongolia (8), Morocco (7), Saudi Arabia (1), Spain (1), Syria (4), United States (8: Montana, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming), Uzbekistan (1)
• Silurian of the United Kingdom (1)
Total: 297 collections including 326 occurrences