长颈龙于2012年在巴西南里奥格兰德州烛台组(英语:Candelária Formation, Paraná Basin)的瓦赫霍茲(Wachholz)地区发现,[2]并在2018年12月21日的一场新闻发布会上公布。属名取自希腊语μακρός(长的)和拉丁语collum(颈),指该动物修长的颈部。种名致敬圣玛丽亚联邦大学古生物研究中心(Centro de Apoio à Pesquisa Paleontológica da Quarta Colônia of the Federal University of Santa Maria,缩写:CAPPA/UFSM)的主要创办者之一约瑟·伊塔基(José Jerundino Machado Itaqui)。[1]
^Müller, Rodrigo Temp; da Rosa, Átila Augusto Stock; Roberto da Silva, Lúcio; Aires, Alex Sandro Schiller; Pacheco, Cristian Pereira; Pavanatto, Ane Elise Branco; Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio. Wachholz, a new exquisite dinosaur-bearing fossiliferous site from the Upper Triassic of southern Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. August 2015, 61: 120–128. Bibcode:2015JSAES..61..120M. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2014.10.009.
^Müller, Rodrigo Temp; Garcia, Maurício Silva; Da-Rosa, Átila Augusto Stock; Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio. Under pressure: Effect of sedimentary compression on the iliac morphology of early sauropodomorphs. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. December 2018, 88: 345–351. Bibcode:2018JSAES..88..345M. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2018.09.005.
^Soares, M.B.; Schultz, C.L.; Horn, B.L.D. New information on Riograndia guaibensis Bonaparte, Ferigolo & Ribeiro, 2001 (Eucynodontia, Tritheledontidae) from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil: anatomical and biostratigraphic implications. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 2011, 83 (1): 329–354. ISSN 0001-3765. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652011000100021.