 After a CAT-scan in May 1998 it was concluded that it represented a new genus.In December 2006 its type species was named and described by Mark Norell, James Clark, Alan Turner, Peter Makovicky, Rinchen Barsbold and Timothy Rowe.The species name, "Tsaagan mangas", should be read as a whole with the generic name qualifying the specific epithet, and is derived from the Mongolian words for "white monster" (), although with an accidental misspelling of the word Tsagaan.