[4] Fossils have been discovered from Early Cretaceous deposits in Asia, South America and possibly Europe.

[5] In 1964, Young created a family to place the genus Dsungaripterus,[6] a Chinese taxon with potential remains also known from the Hasandong Formation of South Korea.

[9] In 2003, Alexander Kellner gave the exact definition as a clade:[10] the group was composed out of the latest common ancestor of Dsungaripterus, Noripterus and “Phobetor”, and all its descendants.

[10] In the same year, David Unwin gave a slightly different definition: the last common ancestor of Dsungaripterus weii and Noripterus complicidens, and all its descendants.

[15] Among the latest known dsungaripterid species is Lonchognathosaurus acutirostris, from the Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Lianmuqin Formation of Xinjiang, China, about 112 million years ago.