The type species, Ikrandraco avatar is based on specimen IVPP V18199, a partial skeleton including the skull and jaws, several neck vertebrae, a partial sternal plate, parts of both wings, and part of a foot.
A second specimen, IVPP 18406, has also been assigned to Ikrandraco; it consists of a skull and jaws and the first three neck vertebrae.
Both specimens come from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, with an estimated date of 120 million years ago.
The type species is I. avatar, a second reference to the movie Avatar.
It was described in 2014 by Wang Xiaolin and colleagues.

In 1869, British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley assigned remains he found to a new species of pterosaur called Ptenodactylus machaerorhynchus, at the same time disclaiming the name which makes it invalid by modern standards.
In 1870, Seeley had realized that the generic name Ptenodactylus had been preoccupied and renamed the species into Ornithocheirus machaerorhynchus.
The specific name means "sabre snout" in Greek.
In 1914, Hooley renamed it into Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus.
Its holotype, CAMSM B54855, was found near Cambridge, in a layer of the Cambridge Greensand dating from the Cenomanian but containing reworked fossils from the Albian.
It consists of the rear end of a symphysis of the lower jaws.

Also in 1869, Seeley informally named "Ptenodactylus microdon".
In 1870, he formally named it Ornithocheirus microdon, "small tooth", Hooley (1914) transferred this species to Lonchodectes to form the new combination Lonchodectes microdon.
Its holotype, CAMSM B54486, has its provenance in the Cambridge Greensand and consists of the front of a snout.
The type specimen of the species Ornithocheirus oweni, CAMSM B 54439, initially described by Seeley in 1864 as Pterodactylus oweni, was synonymized with microdon by Unwin in 2001, and later in 2013, Rodrigues & Kellner agreed with this synonymy.

In 2013, paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner made an extensive review of the species of Ornithocheirus, and stated that the generic name Lonchodectes would have been a nomen dubium, and therefore reassigned both Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus and L. microdon into the genus Lonchodraco, creating Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus and L. microdon.

In his review of Lonchodectidae, Alexander Averianov reassigned Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus to Ikrandraco, and also declared Lonchodraco microdon (including O. oweni) a junior synonym of machaerorhynchus.
The type species, Ikrandraco avatar is based on specimen IVPP V18199, a partial skeleton including the skull and jaws, several neck vertebrae, a partial sternal plate, parts of both wings, and part of a foot. A second specimen, IVPP 18406, has also been assigned to Ikrandraco; it consists of a skull and jaws and the first three neck vertebrae. Both specimens come from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, with an estimated date of 120 million years ago. The type species is I. avatar, a second reference to the movie Avatar. It was described in 2014 by Wang Xiaolin and colleagues.
In 1869, British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley assigned remains he found to a new species of pterosaur called Ptenodactylus machaerorhynchus, at the same time disclaiming the name which makes it invalid by modern standards. In 1870, Seeley had realized that the generic name Ptenodactylus had been preoccupied and renamed the species into Ornithocheirus machaerorhynchus. The specific name means "sabre snout" in Greek. In 1914, Hooley renamed it into Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus. Its holotype, CAMSM B54855, was found near Cambridge, in a layer of the Cambridge Greensand dating from the Cenomanian but containing reworked fossils from the Albian. It consists of the rear end of a symphysis of the lower jaws.
Also in 1869, Seeley informally named "Ptenodactylus microdon". In 1870, he formally named it Ornithocheirus microdon, "small tooth", Hooley (1914) transferred this species to Lonchodectes to form the new combination Lonchodectes microdon. Its holotype, CAMSM B54486, has its provenance in the Cambridge Greensand and consists of the front of a snout. The type specimen of the species Ornithocheirus oweni, CAMSM B 54439, initially described by Seeley in 1864 as Pterodactylus oweni, was synonymized with microdon by Unwin in 2001, and later in 2013, Rodrigues & Kellner agreed with this synonymy.
In 2013, paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner made an extensive review of the species of Ornithocheirus, and stated that the generic name Lonchodectes would have been a nomen dubium, and therefore reassigned both Lonchodectes machaerorhynchus and L. microdon into the genus Lonchodraco, creating Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus and L. microdon.
In his review of Lonchodectidae, Alexander Averianov reassigned Lonchodraco machaerorhynchus to Ikrandraco, and also declared Lonchodraco microdon (including O. oweni) a junior synonym of machaerorhynchus.
Ikrandraco