The partial braincase that became the type specimen of Piveteausaurus was first described in 1923 by French paleontologist Jean Piveteau in illustrations and photographs of the specimen (MNHN 1920-7). The braincase is comparable in size to that of a large Allosaurus,[1] and resembles that of another megalosauroid, Piatnitzkysaurus from Argentina.[2] Piveteau grouped this partial skull with other specimens found earlier in that locality and described in 1808 by French naturalist Georges Cuvier.[3] In 1861 English paleontologist Richard Owen assigned the fragments to the species Streptospondylus cuvieri, and Piveteau included the skull he found in the same species.[3]