Desmatosuchinae is one of the two subfamilies of aetosaurs, the other being Aetosaurinae. It is a stem-based taxon defined as all aetosaurs more closely related to Desmatosuchus than the last common ancestor of Desmatosuchus and Stagonolepis. All synapomorphies that diagnose the clade can be found in the osteoderms. These include tongue-and-groove articulations for lateral plates present in dorsal presacral paramedian plates and large spikes on the lateral cervical, dorsal, and caudal plates.

Desmatosuchinae is one of the two subfamilies of aetosaurs, the other being Aetosaurinae. It is a stem-based taxon defined as all aetosaurs more closely related to Desmatosuchus than the last common ancestor of Desmatosuchus and Stagonolepis. All synapomorphies that diagnose the clade can be found in the osteoderms. These include tongue-and-groove articulations for lateral plates present in dorsal presacral paramedian plates and large spikes on the lateral cervical, dorsal, and caudal plates.