[2] They are now often regarded as late-diverging stem-turtles, lying outside the clade formed by Cryptodira and Pleurodira.

[3][4][5][6] Paracryptodires are divided into three main groups, Compsemydidae, known from the Late Jurassic to Paleocene of North America and Europe, Pleurosternidae, known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of North America and Europe, and Baenidae, known from the Early Cretaceous to Eocene of North America.

The latter two groups are more closely related to each other than to Compsemys, forming the clade Baenoidea.

[2] In the skull, the posterior foramen for the internal carotid canal is located midway along the basisphenoid-pterygoid suture.

[1] Paracryptodira includes these taxa, after Rollot et al. (2022):[7] Dubious species: The oldest possible record of paracryptodires is from the Forest Marble Formation of England, dating to the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic.