 A year later he renamed it as "C. onchiopsis".Herpetologists Albert Schwartz and Richard Thomas officially reclassified it as a subspecies of "C. cornuta" 90 years later, based on the writings of Thomas Barbour and Robert Mertens, yet presented numerous data relating to scale count that suggested otherwise.In 1977, Schwartz and Carey wrote “It is even conceivable that "onchiopsis" should be considered a species distinct from "C. cornuta" on the basis of this single character (distinctly smaller dorsolateral scales) (plus perhaps other modalities), but to do so would obscure its obvious affinities with the latter species.”

In 1999, Dr Robert Powell wrote that, based on these prior studies, this animal should be elevated to full species status, distinct from "C. cornuta".