Proconodonts are often equated with the broader group Cavidonti, which occupies one side of a basal division in the evolution of early euconodonts in the Cambrian.

[1] Lateral keels and subtle lines of serrations are frequently found in the hook-shaped elements of bellodelids, while other proconodonts rarely deviate from one or more basic conical structures.

[1] The Ordovician proconodont Fryxellodontus is occasionally considered ancestral to Polonodus and pygodontids, which had more unusual elements covered with ridges, nodes, and denticles.

Bellodellidae and the component taxa of Dapsilodontidae (Besselodus and Dapsilodus) were moved into the superfamily Panderodontacea, closer to Panderodontidae and Strachanognathidae.

[9] A 1994 reevaluation of Panderodus argued that Belodellidae may have close affinities to Panderodontida, while Besselodus and Dapsilodus are best classified within the order Protopanderodontida.