This small, insectivorous reptile is assigned to the synapsid eupelycosaurian family Varanopseidae. Varanopseidae has a long fossil record, extending from the end of the Carboniferous to well into the Late Permian, and the widest geographical distribution, including North America , South Africa and Russia .

Mesenosaurus was found in red clays deposited in an ancient lake in what is now northern Russia.