Helicoprion was first described by Alexander Karpinsky in 1899 from a fossil found in Artinskian age limestones of the Ural Mountains.[12] Karpinsky named the type species Helicoprion bessonowi; Oliver Perry Hay originally described the species. This species can be differentiated from others by a short and narrowly spaced tooth whorl, backward-directed tooth tips, obtusely-angled tooth bases, and a consistently narrow whorl shaft.[4]