Laornis edvardsianus was named by Marsh (1870). Its type specimen is YPM 820, a limb element (tibiotarsus), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Pemberton Marl Company pit (Hornerstown), which is in a Maastrichtian marginal marine marl in the Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey. It is the type species of Laornis.