[3] Although most other troodontids are believed to be primarily carnivorous, specimens of this subfamily show potential omnivory, being what are possibly plant seeds in the gut of Jinfengopteryx, although these have also been interpreted to be developing eggs or pennaceous follicles.

[5] The first representative of this group, Jinfengopteryx elegans, was discovered in the Huajiying Formation in Hebei, China in 2005, dating approximately 122 million years old.

[7] In 2006, Chiappe, Xu, and Norell suggested that it belonged to the Troodontidae based on the presence of an enlarged second toe claw, general body plan, and dental morphology.

[8][9] Jinfengopteryx was subsequently placed in the Troodontidae in 2007 in an analysis of the relationships between troodontids, dromaeosaurids, and early birds by Turner and Norell et al.[10] Finally, in 2012, Turner, Makovicky, and Norell erected the subfamily Jinfengopteryginae to include Jinfengopteryx and the as-of-yet unnamed specimen IGM 100/1226, with large antorbital fenestrae and a bifurcated jugal being the group's synapomorphies.

[11] In 2014, Brusatte, Lloyd, Wang, and Norell published an analysis on Coelurosauria, based on data from Turner et al. (2012), including many basal troodontid species but failing to resolve many interrelationships resulting in a polytomy between IGM 100/44, Byronosaurus, Xixiasaurus, Sinovenatorinae, Jinfengopteryginae, and the derived Sinornithoides+Troodontinae clade.