The remains of Erlikosaurus were discovered in 1972 at Bayshin Tsav, during a Soviet-Mongolian expedition in Ömnögovi Province. The type species, Erlikosaurus andrewsi, was named and described by Altangerel Perle in 1980, in an article co-authored with Rinchen Barsbold, who however, is not indicated as the name-giver of this particular species. Its generic name was taken from that of the demon king Erlik from Turko-Mongolian mythology and the specific name of the American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews.[2] Confusingly, in 1981 Perle again named the species as if it were new, this time spelling the generic name as a Latinised "Erlicosaurus".[3] It is today generally considered that the original name, Erlikosaurus, is valid.