Dermotherium major was named by Ducrocq et al. (1992). Its type specimen is TF 2580, a mandible (left lower jaw with M/2 and M/3), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Wai Lek pit, which is in an Eocene terrestrial lignite in the Krabi Basin B2 Formation of Thailand. It is the type species of Dermotherium.