Angaturama limai, another spinosaurid from the same time and place as Irritator challengeri, was described by the Brazilian paleontologists Alexander W. A. Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos in February 1996.
Kept today under specimen number USP GP/2T-5 at the University of São Paulo, the holotype specimen consists of an isolated snout tip from the Romualdo Formation.
It was extracted from a calcareous nodule using a technique originally developed for pterosaur fossils.
The generic name is in reference to Angaturama, a protective spirit in the aboriginal Tupi Indian culture of Brazil.
The specific name honors the late Brazilian paleontologist Murilo R. de Lima, who informed Kellner of the specimen in 1991.

In 1997, British paleontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner considered Angaturama a likely junior synonym of Irritator, noting that both genera had retracted nostrils, long jaws, and characteristic spinosaurid dentition.
Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1998 agreed with this possibility, and additionally observed that the holotype of Angaturama seems to complete that of Irritator (meaning that they could belong to the same specimen).
Authors including Éric Buffetaut and Mohamed Ouaja in 2002, Cristiano Dal Sasso and colleagues in 2005, Tor G. Bertin in 2010, Darren Naish in 2013, and Madani Benyoucef and colleagues in 2015 supported this conclusion.
In their redescription of Irritator, Sues and colleagues pointed out that both holotypes are equally as narrow, and share transversely round teeth with defined yet unserrated edges.
They also noted that a sagittal crest on Angaturama's premaxillae may correspond with that of Irritator's nasal bones.
Some objection has been raised to these assertions.
Kellner and Campos in 2000 and Brazilian paleontologist Elaine B. Machado and Kellner in 2005 expressed the opinion that the fossils come from two different genera, and that the holotype of Angaturama limai was clearly more laterally flattened than that of Irritator challengeri.

A review of both fossils by the Brazilian paleontologists Marcos A. F. Sales and Cesar L. Schultz in 2017 noted that the specimens also differ in other aspects of their preservation: the Irritator specimen is brighter in color and is affected by a vertical crack, while the Angaturama specimen bears many cavities; the damage to the teeth of the Irritator challengeri holotype is also much less severe.
Sales and Schultz also identified a possible point of overlap, the third left maxillary tooth, and observed that the skull of Angaturama could have been larger than that of Irritator based on the proportions of the closely related genus Baryonyx.
They therefore concluded that the two specimens do not belong to the same individual, Sales and Schultz noted that synonymy at the genus level would need to be verified by more extensively overlapping remains.
If Angaturama and Irritator are regarded as a member of the same genus, the latter would be the valid scientific name under rules of priority, since it was named almost a month earlier.
Angaturama limai, another spinosaurid from the same time and place as Irritator challengeri, was described by the Brazilian paleontologists Alexander W. A. Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos in February 1996. Kept today under specimen number USP GP/2T-5 at the University of São Paulo, the holotype specimen consists of an isolated snout tip from the Romualdo Formation. It was extracted from a calcareous nodule using a technique originally developed for pterosaur fossils. The generic name is in reference to Angaturama, a protective spirit in the aboriginal Tupi Indian culture of Brazil. The specific name honors the late Brazilian paleontologist Murilo R. de Lima, who informed Kellner of the specimen in 1991.
In 1997, British paleontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner considered Angaturama a likely junior synonym of Irritator, noting that both genera had retracted nostrils, long jaws, and characteristic spinosaurid dentition. Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1998 agreed with this possibility, and additionally observed that the holotype of Angaturama seems to complete that of Irritator (meaning that they could belong to the same specimen). Authors including Éric Buffetaut and Mohamed Ouaja in 2002, Cristiano Dal Sasso and colleagues in 2005, Tor G. Bertin in 2010, Darren Naish in 2013, and Madani Benyoucef and colleagues in 2015 supported this conclusion. In their redescription of Irritator, Sues and colleagues pointed out that both holotypes are equally as narrow, and share transversely round teeth with defined yet unserrated edges. They also noted that a sagittal crest on Angaturama's premaxillae may correspond with that of Irritator's nasal bones. Some objection has been raised to these assertions. Kellner and Campos in 2000 and Brazilian paleontologist Elaine B. Machado and Kellner in 2005 expressed the opinion that the fossils come from two different genera, and that the holotype of Angaturama limai was clearly more laterally flattened than that of Irritator challengeri.
A review of both fossils by the Brazilian paleontologists Marcos A. F. Sales and Cesar L. Schultz in 2017 noted that the specimens also differ in other aspects of their preservation: the Irritator specimen is brighter in color and is affected by a vertical crack, while the Angaturama specimen bears many cavities; the damage to the teeth of the Irritator challengeri holotype is also much less severe. Sales and Schultz also identified a possible point of overlap, the third left maxillary tooth, and observed that the skull of Angaturama could have been larger than that of Irritator based on the proportions of the closely related genus Baryonyx. They therefore concluded that the two specimens do not belong to the same individual, Sales and Schultz noted that synonymy at the genus level would need to be verified by more extensively overlapping remains. If Angaturama and Irritator are regarded as a member of the same genus, the latter would be the valid scientific name under rules of priority, since it was named almost a month earlier.
Irritator