Gyposaurus sinensis was named by Yang Zhongjian (better known as C.C. Young) in 1941 for four specimens (IVPP AS V.24 and V.25, which have since been lost, and V.26 and V.27) from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan Province, China. In 1976, Peter Galton reassigned these specimens to Lufengosaurus as juveniles, and Zhiming Dong transferred them to Anchisaurus in 1992, though neither referral gained much traction. In a 2004 review of "Prosauropoda", Galton and Upchurch regarded Gyposaurus sinensis as a valid and distinct critter, but with the Gyposaurus name-bearer assumed to be a specimen of Massospondylus, it needed a name of its own. Barrett and colleagues obliged in 2007 by proposing "Gripposaurus", which was a textbook example of how not to introduce a new genus: (1) they wrapped it in scare quotes to float the name without commiting to it, (2) they applied the name to a specimen that Young had referred to Gyposaurus sinensis in 1948 rather than to the 1941 type series, but didn't include a specimen number, and (3) they provided no diagnosis, description, or justification under the new name, leaving "Gripposaurus" tripley unofficial and as naked as a nomen nudum can be. During a 2017 conference presentation, Wang and colleagues agreed with Galton (1976) and suggested that "Gyposaurus" sinensis is likely a juvenile of Lufengosaurus huenei, but that came with some baggage of its own: (1) their analysis remains unpublished, and (2) several referred specimens of "Gyposaurus" sinensis do need further investigation. In 1920, Egbert Cornelis Nicolaas van Hoepen named Aristosaurus erectus, based on an almost complete skeleton found by quarry workers on a slab and counter part (TM 130) near Roosendal, Senekal District, Ficksburg, Free State, South Africa, probably in the Clarens Formation (Stormberg Series). Twelve years later, Friedrich Von Huene sank Aristosaurus erectus into synonymy with Gyposaurus capensis, and that view was followed by the likes of Romer (1956), Charig (1967), Steel (1970), and White (1973). When Galton and Cluver announced Gyposaurus as a synonym of Anchisaurus in 1976, they also argued that Aristosaurus should never have been placed in Gyposaurus at all, as it represents a valid and distinct "broad-footed prosauropod" in its own right. However, like Gyposaurus capensis, Michael Cooper (1981) identified Gyposaurus erectus as a specimen of Massospondylus, and more recent studies have listed it as a dubious sauropodomorph.