The specific name "tenerensis" is after the Ténéré Desert where the animal was found. The holotype, MNN GDF500, was found in the Tegama Beds of the Elrhaz Formation. It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It contains three neck ribs, parts of fourteen dorsal (back) vertebrae, ten dorsal ribs, gastralia (or "belly ribs"), pieces of three sacral vertebrae, parts of twelve caudal (tail) vertebrae, chevrons (bones that form the underside of the tail), a scapula (shoulder blade), a coracoid, a partial forelimb, most of the pelvis (hip bone), and parts of a hindlimb. The spinal column was largely articulated, the remainder consisted of disarticulated bones. Parts of the skeleton had been exposed on the desert surface and had suffered erosion damage. Additionally, several specimens have been assigned as paratypes: MNN GDF 501 to 508 include a snout, a quadrate from the back of the skull, three dentaries (tooth-bearing bones of the lower jaw), an axis (second neck vertebra), a rear cervical vertebra, and a rear dorsal vertebra. MNN GDF 510 to MNN GDF 511 comprise two caudal vertebrae. All of the original "Suchomimus" fossils are housed in the palaeontological collection of the Musée National du Niger. The initial description of "Suchomimus" was preliminary. In 2007, the furcula (wishbone)—found during an expedition in 2000—was described in detail. "S". "tenerensis" is potentially a junior synonym of another spinosaurid from the Erlhaz Formation, "Cristatusaurus lapparenti", named the same year based on jaw fragments and vertebrae. The skull elements were considered indistinguishable from those of "Baryonyx walkeri" from the Barremian of England by British paleontologists Alan Charig and Angela Milner. In 1997 while describing "S". "tenerensis", Sereno and colleagues agreed with this assessment and concluded that "Cristatusaurus" was a dubious name. In 2002, the German palaeontologist Hans-Dieter Sues and colleagues concluded that "Suchomimus" was identical to "Cristatusaurus lapparenti", and despite "Cristatusaurus" having been named somewhat earlier than "Suchomimus", proposed them to represent a second species of "Baryonyx" called "Baryonyx tenerensis".