The holotype remains of Heteroanser, a fragmental right tarsometatarsus labelled PIN, no. 2614/110, was first described by Evgeny Kurochkin in 1976, as a new species within the genus Heterochen: H. vicinus. In 1986, this new species was transferred to the genus Anser by Mlíkovský and Švec, who considered it related to the modern bean goose. Finally, in 2012, a new genus, Heteroanser, was erected for the species by Nikita Zelenkov, making it Heteroanser vicinus.[1]
The name of this genus comes from the Greek adjective heteros, meaning "other", and the Latin noun anser, meaning "goose".[1]